Free Music and Workshops at Children’s Arts Festival

The fourth annual Hollywood Children’s Festival of the Arts features two afternoons of free workshops and musical entertainment at Barnsdall Art Park. This weekend’s celebration of Hollywood arts and history will be at the park and the patios of the Junior Arts Center.

At noon today and Sunday, Bryan Parris and his Caribbean Connection will perform. J. P. Nightingale entertains at 1 p.m.; Teatro de los Puppets will present a bilingual show at 2 p.m. At 2:30 p.m., there will be old movies in the Gallery Theater. The selection will focus on films shot at nearby Hollywood locations.

Singer/guitarist Stephen Michael Schwartz plays at 3 p.m., followed by an acting workshop conducted by members of the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.

Mural, Costume Workshops

Also at 1 p.m., the workshops begin. Children can join the workshops at their own pace, participating in the creation of a transparent mural, “Looking Through the Magic Window”; make costumes for themselves (all materials are provided) in “Create a Costumed Character,” and learn how to make old-fashioned flip books at the “Make Your Own Cartoon” workshop.

Hanna-Barbera will set up the “Shaky, Quaky Schoolhouse” so kids can walk through and experience what an earthquake feels like. Visitors will receive free earthquake preparedness booklets to take home. Life-size characters Scooby Doo and Joan Jetson will stroll through the park today; Ronald McDonald and Goofy will attend Sunday.

Families are encouraged to bring picnic lunches and enjoy the broad lawns at the top of the hill. There also will be fast foods for sale. A shuttle bus will take visitors from the Barnsdall Park parking lots to the celebration at 4814 Hollywood Blvd. Information: (213) 485-4474.