CELEBRATING LIFE, MUSIC FALL FOLK FESTIVAL HONORS PEARL.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

Thousands got their folk groove on during a whirling Sunday of fiddling and contradancing at Encino's first fall folk festival.

The California Traditional Music Society Folk Music Festival brought out the best in traditional music while paying tribute to the late Daniel Pearl, the San Fernando Valley-raised journalist and musician slain in Pakistan.

It was, for revelers, a sunny day for unity and celebration.

``Oh, it's wonderful, it's the best thing,'' said Mary Miller, 58, of Claremont, striding off a dance floor after a raucous dos-a-dos.

``If you can walk, you can dance - you can't be drinking and do it; it wouldn't work.''

Daniel Pearl Music Day launched a week of memorial music for the Wall Street Journal reporter beloved for his violin and mandolin playing.

Sunday's event drew folkies to four stages, where Celtic, bluegrass and other music kept heads bobbing - or feet twirling - under the oaks of Encino Park.

Vendors along a closed stretch of Ventura Boulevard served up local grub, sizzling sausage and the wares of Encino commerce.

``This would have to be the beverage of the day,'' said Dave Botwin, 33, of Encino, nursing an 18-inch-tall strawberry smoothie capped by a pink parasol.

From the park wafted an Irish lyric, ``I wish I was in Dublin town, seated on the grass,'' accompanied by a pennywhistle.

The CTMS jam, held in conjunction with the Encino Chamber of Commerce, was made possible by a $9,000 grant from the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Organizers expected as many as 10,000 visitors.

``I'm thrilled. It's absolutely magnificent,'' said Elaine Weissman, executive director of the music society based at Encino Park. ``Half the people don't even know what folk music is, and we're introducing them. The sound stage - this is the best of folk music in California.''

There was Bill Williams, 61, of West Hills, scarfing down a king-size Polish sausage slathered in mustard; Camilla Macarena Ramirez, 5, shaking a tambourine on a children's stage; and Valerie ``The Sprite'' Stansfield, 48, of Sherman Oaks, dancing solo to the beat of a thumping stand-up bass.

``This is going to start a dance craze all over the city,'' she said.

Pearl's father, Judea, said words on behalf of his son.

``It's been very emotional,'' said Weissman, a friend of the family. ``They're very fragile; it's still an open wound.''

On Thursday, on what would have been Daniel Pearl's 39th birthday, friends will hold the following musical tributes:

--Israeli singer Tova Litvin and Birmingham High School students at 9 a.m. at the school's performing arts auditorium.

--Jazz and readings from Pearl's stories between 7:30 and 9 p.m. at Covina Park, at Fourth Avenue and Badillo Street in Covina.

--Three string concerts - at 10:30 a.m. at Porter Middle School, 5 p.m. at the Kadima Academy at Los Angeles Valley College and 7:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Pierce College.

--A marriage of Jewish music and food at 8 p.m. at the Gindi Auditorium at the University of Judaism, Bel-Air.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Judea Pearl, father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, talks with visitors Sunday at Daniel Pearl Music Day in Encino Park.

(2) Amber Roullard plays bass with The Growling Old Geezers at the California Traditional Music Society's folk festival.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer