Out & About / Ventura County : FAMILY JAUNTS : Party for a Cause : Mexican fiesta Sunday aims to raise money for college-bound students.

The wooded lawns surrounding Ojai’s Libbey Park Bowl will be filled with the sights, sounds and tastes of eastern and central Mexico during the 33rd annual Ojai Valley Mexican Fiesta on Sunday.

Visitors can take delight in the smell of hand-rolled corn tortillas frying on griddles or watch dancers twirl on stage in colorful costumes.

“It’s kind of like a community party, at least that’s the way I see it,” said Gloria Melendez, president of the committee hosting the event.

“It’s a really nice setting and people can come out to visit with each other and enjoy the food and music,” she said. “Fiesta means party.”

The annual event raises scholarship money for high school students of Mexican descent who live in Ojai, Meiners Oaks, Mira Monte and Oak View, she said.

Talented youths are a big part of what makes the fiesta special.

This year’s entertainment includes Ballet Folklorico Mestizo de Oxnard College, a group of 20 college dancers, and Mariachi Juvenil Azteca, a band of young men from Camarillo that performs traditional Mexican music on stringed instruments and horns.

Upbeat music will also be played by Alma Grande de la Familia, a family of brothers from Ventura specializing in songs from Veracruz and highlighting the arpa, a Spanish harp played at a fast tempo, Melendez said.

Ernesto y Ernesto, a father-and-son duo who live in the Ojai Valley, will play the keyboard and guitar while singing traditional Mexican songs.

The highlight of the roster--and of particular interest to families with children--will be Maria del Rey, an Ojai Valley recording artist who specializes in traditional Spanish lullabies.

In addition to the lively music and dances, the menu will be rich.

Individuals and restaurants will offer homemade tamales, burritos and tacos, and several cooks will be on site preparing corn tortillas from scratch, stuffing the hot, flat cakes with beef and other fillings.

The fiesta is a great reason to visit Ojai for the day, and since the park is downtown, visitors can come and go at their leisure.

About 1,000 stop by the celebration each year, Melendez said.

The cost is $3 for adults, $2 for ages 60 and older, $1 for ages 6 to 18, and free for those 5 and under.

The festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call Melendez at 649-1129.

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In Oxnard, Mexico’s independence will be celebrated during Las Fiestas Patrias Mexicanas, a five-day celebration that starts Saturday with a festival at Plaza Park.

Sponsored by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Ventura County, the event will include food booths featuring an array of Mexican cuisine, arts and crafts booths, commercial vendors and a children’s area with face-painting and an art contest.

There will also be live music, traditional Spanish dancers, mariachis and an amateur talent competition. Visitors will be encouraged to form conga lines and dance the macarena.

There is no cost for admission to the festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, International Boxing Federation junior lightweight champion Robert Garcia will be the grand marshal for the Fiestas Patrias ’99 Parade. Garcia is a native who trained at La Colonia Youth Boxing Center.

The parade will wind through downtown, beginning on 9th Street and proceeding north to 2nd Street.

The five-day event will end Wednesday night with a downtown celebration coinciding with a gala in Mexico City.

Hosted by Oxnard’s Mexican Consulate, the Oxnard event will be timed with the moment when Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo walks onto the balcony of the National Palace in Mexico City, holds the Mexican flag over his head and waves it to celebrate his nation’s independence.

TIP OF THE WEEK

The 15th annual Simi Valley Days, Wednesday through Sept. 19, will rev up this weekend with a barn dance Saturday at Strathearn Historical Park, a children’s festival Sunday at Rancho Susana Community Park and a car show Sunday in the parking lot of Micom Communications Corp.

The five-day carnival takes place at the city’s fairgrounds.

All events are accessible from the Ronald Reagan Freeway.

For times and ticket information, call 581-4280 or check out www.simivalleydays.com.

Ideas for Jaunts can be forwarded to holly.wolcott@latimes.com.