At a glance

WHAT: Patterson Parks and Recreation Fall Family Festival

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30

WHERE: Downtown North and South Parks and on the Circle

COST: Free

INFO: Kristin Kinnear, 895-8084

Entertainment, fun, contests and booths await local families at the Patterson Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Fall Family Festival on Saturday.

A costume contest for children and their dogs; a stop, drop and roll demonstration; and performances by Curtain Call Dance Studio, Patterson Gymnastics, Patterson Dance Crew and Tiger’s Black Belt will be on the agenda. Local band Red Line will provide the music for the free-to-attend merrymaking.

In a new twist for 2010, organizers also aim to entertain the older children in the family.

“The exciting thing is we’re setting up an arcade in City Hall for the teens,” said Kristin Kinnear of the city’s parks and recreation department.

The teen room will have games such as air hockey, foosball and indoor basketball tosses, Kinnear said. Live reptiles will be on display in the lobby of City Hall for the Wild Reptile Adventure.

A Velcro Wall will be set up outside City Hall and teens can don a special suit — and when they jump up they stick to the wall.

Information tables will be set up and will feature organizations including American Heritage Girls, American Red Cross, Chi Chi Console, Center for Human Services, Del Puerto Health Care and Frontier Communications.

The Patterson Fire Department, Patterson District Ambulance Company, Patterson Parks and Recreation Department and Patterson Police Department will also be on hand.

Festivalgoers can dine on a free hot dog or hamburger lunch as they visit info booths and participate in activities in the parks.

While North Park will have food, information tables, carnival games and entertainment, South Park will have activities for children, including bounce bins, a bungee run, a petting zoo and pet adoptions with Westside Animals for Adoption. Emergency vehicles and a giant slide will line the side streets. Mascots for the Patterson Fire Department, Kaiser Permanente and the Modesto Nuts baseball team will also visit with families.

Fall Family Festival coincides with the national Red Ribbon Week, which brings the anti-drug and alchol message to children throughout the United States. The celebration began here as The Red Ribbon Rally, sponsored by Stanislaus County in 2002. The following year, the event was expanded under the Patterson Recreation Department to include activities for the whole family and was renamed and made an annual event.

• Contact Maddy Houk at 892-6187 or maddy@pattersonirrigator.com.