BEST BETS Saturday: 5/13

LAKE FOREST

11am

Fiesta

Catch a glimpse of the Saddleback Valley’s past at the Rancho Days Fiesta at Heritage Hill Historical Park in Lake Forest. You can learn something about Orange County’s past, and you’ll be able to make wax candles, ice cream or sweet, creamy butter. Enjoy a poetry reading and watch a blacksmith in action. You can also tour the park’s historic buildings with costumed docents. Relax as you listen to mariachis and watch the Ballet Folklorico. Kids can learn something and have fun at the same time.

* Rancho Days Fiesta, Heritage Hill Historical Park, 25151 Serrano Road, Lake Forest. $3 for adults; $2 for children. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (949) 855-2028.

IRVINE

10am-3:30pm

Festival

You don’t have to be a Scout or even a kid to have fun at Scout-O-Rama/Exploring Extravaganza 2000, which moves this year from Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Regional Park to new digs in Irvine. The daylong event, sponsored by the Orange County Council of Boy Scouts of America, features more than 400 activities for all ages, including games, rides, hands-on crafts, outdoor and survival skills displays, samples of Dutch oven cuisine, performances by BMX and extreme skate teams, climbing walls, fishing, canoeing, and police and fire department exhibits and demonstrations. It’s all included with a $3 ticket, which admits an entire family. More that 10,000 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Explorers participate in the annual event, which is expected to draw more than 20,000 people.

* Scout-O-Rama/Exploring Extravaganza 2000, Sand Canyon Avenue and Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. $3 for the entire family. (714) 546-4990.

FULLERTON

9am-6pm

Train enthusiasts can tour real Santa Fe railway diesel locomotives, Amtrak passenger cars and private rail cars at Fullerton Railroad Days 2000 at the Fullerton Train Station. The two-day show, sponsored by the Fullerton Railway Plaza Assn., will also feature more than 40 booths of historic exhibits, model train layouts, exhibits from the Orange County Transportation Authority, Metrolink and local youth groups, police and firetruck displays, food and more. The event celebrates Fullerton’s connection with the Santa Fe railway and its role in settling Southern California. The association was formed to support the development of a Railroad Heritage Museum in Fullerton.

* Fullerton Railroad Days. Fullerton Train Station, 124 E. Santa Fe Ave. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. Also Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (714) 278-0648.