Calabasas : Pumpkin Festival Gets Under Way

The fourth annual Calabasas Pumpkin Festival, a two-day event held to celebrate autumn, gets under way today at Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

The festival is held at the Western village that serves as a location for the television show “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” This year’s event, which ends Sunday, will feature a Chumash village, a Wild West medicine show, plus pumpkin bowling, pumpkin-seed spitting and pumpkin-pie eating, among other games.

Four stages of entertainment will feature a variety of performers, including Marty Myrick, a one-man swing band; Rock Springs Road, a traditional bluegrass and country act, and Terry Williams and the First Edition, which evolved from the original Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.

Also on hand will be Dennis Wichter, who will offer a unique blend of country, bluegrass and Western swing, the rockabilly band of Russell Scott and the Red Hots, and jazz music by Chet McCracken, former drummer of the Doobie Brothers.

The festival runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Admission is $7.50 general, $6.50 for senior citizens and teen-agers, $3.50 for children 4 to 12, and free to children 3 and younger. For information call (818) 225-2227.

The festival, a cooperative effort of the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce and the city of Calabasas, is a fund-raiser for the chamber and local nonprofit organizations.