One-Day Culture Club : The Agoura festival honors the Columbus quincentennial and will offer a multiethnic array of food, music and crafts.

Southern Californians will be able to experience the cultures of faraway places Saturday without go ing too far from home.

At the “Encounter of Cultures” festival at Paramount Ranch in Agoura, people will be able to sample lahmajun from Armenia and curry chicken recipes from Tobago. Or they might buy an abalone shell from Polynesia and a batik fabric from Africa. And some might just want to listen to music from Brazil or Greece that they wouldn’t ordinarily hear.

National Park Service officials say Saturday’s free, multicultural festival was planned to serve a threefold purpose: to bring together as many cultures as possible, each demonstrating its traditions, music, dance and food; to celebrate the Columbus quincentennial by rejoicing in this country’s cultural diversity; and finally, to make the public aware of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Jean Bray, a spokeswoman for the recreation area, said that even though the park has been part of the national system for 12 years, many people remain unaware of it.

“We want the inner city and surrounding communities to know that there’s a national park here,” Bray said. “We have 65,000 acres. Whether the people use it or not, it’s sometimes comforting to know that it exists and that it is there for their recreational use.”

She said the festival was possible because of special funding from the Department of the Interior earmarked for a Columbus quincentennial commemoration event. There are no plans to make it an annual event.

The festival runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with continuous entertainment on two stages and by roving performers. Park officials expect 5,000 to 10,000 people to attend the one-day event.

Invitations were sent to local VIPs and dignitaries to act as masters of ceremonies, but with a three-minute limit on politicking, Bray said. Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) and Ventura County Supervisor Maria VanderKolk are among those who plan to participate.

The Ballet Folclorico Do Brazil and the Stan Herbert Band, featuring Cajun and country music, are both scheduled to perform Saturday afternoon on the main stage.

Some other acts scheduled on the main stage are the Agape Greek Dance Troupe, the First AME Gospel Choir from South-Central Los Angeles, the Ellis Island Klezmer Music, and the Eagle Spirit Dancers, a Navajo/North American Indian dance and music group.

There will be more than 60 booths offering food, crafts, games and information representing the cultures of Greece, Armenia, Japan, the Philippines, Polynesia, Haiti, Mexico, China, Thailand, Trinidad, Norway, Hawaii, Scotland, Africa, American Indians and others.

The festival will also feature demonstrations of ethnic crafts and offer information about educational and social events concerning the area’s ethnic communities. The California Employment Development Department will have a booth giving information on ethnic hiring.

Park officials said the celebration of the United States’ ethnic diversity is not a stretch for a Columbus quincentennial commemoration.

“The really significant part about the Columbus voyage is what happened after it, the result: what’s happened in the last 500 years,” said Costa Dillon, who is in charge of visitor program planning at the park. “The United States is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world.”

Dillon said this festival is a “recognition of the contributions that all cultures made to the history of the U.S.”

WHERE AND WHEN

Event: “Encounter of Cultures” festival.

Location: Paramount Ranch, Agoura. Take the Ventura Freeway to the Kanan Road exit. Go south on Kanan Road, turn left at sign for Cornell Road and then keep to the right. The entrance to Paramount Ranch is on the right about 2 1/2 miles.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Price: Free admission.

Call: (818) 597-9192.