Last Week For Laguna Beach Art Festivals & Free Summer Trolley

LAGUNA BEACH, CA—The end of the summer arts festivals for 2021 is upon us. By Labor Day, the Sawdust, Art-A-Fair, Pageant of the Masters and Festival of Arts will all be shuttered for the season. The free summer trolleys take their last passengers to and fro on Monday night.

The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters will close its 89th year on Friday night, September 3. Aside from the festival returning after last year’s forced hiatus, a number of milestones were celebrated in 2021. Pageant director Diane Challis Davy oversaw her 25th year of performances in the Irvine Bowl. It’s been 40 years for scriptwriter Dan Duling. Narrator Richard Doyle’s voice has guided audiences for the past 10 seasons.

This year's pageant theme of Made in America was a home run. How will the creative team and the devoted volunteers top it in 2022?

Sawdust Art & Craft Festival will be open through Sunday, September 5. The non-juried event has featured Laguna Beach artists and artisans at work in their custom-made booths since 1967—though that year took place in a parking lot. Because of the pandemic, 2021 accommodated fewer participants: about 160 rather than the usual 200 plus.

And for the first time, the Sawdust included about a dozen art makers chosen by lottery who don't reside in Laguna Beach. They've all shown their creations in the Sawdust Winter Fantasy. Live music and art demonstrations in glass, leather, metal, paint, textiles, photography, wood, ceramics and more made this year's Sawdust feel as celebratory as ever.

Winter Fantasy will be here before you know it, with arts and crafts and all kinds of holiday festivities.

Art-A-Fair closes at 6 p.m. on Sunday, September 5. More than 100 artists and artisans will pack up their two- and three-dimensional works for the season. In ordinary years, a large cohort would be international artists. But due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, that wasn't the case for 2021. Hopefully, next summer's makers will hail from inside and outside the U.S.A.

Jury Day for Art-A-Fair's 56th season is scheduled for February 13, 2022, with digital submissions due February 1.

Not coming to an end is First Thursdays Art Walk, which continues year-round. However, this Thursday, September 2nd, is the last day for gallery hopping via Laguna Beach's free summer trolley.