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Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach
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- Good for Kids:
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12 reviews for Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach
"A picture is a poem without words." ~ Horace
The images created at the Pagent of the Masters are pure poetry.
For many years I have wanted to attend the Pageant of the Masters. Somehow finding someone to attend with me (I need more cultured friends!) and a ticket at the same time has eluded me. The festival would come and go and I thought I would never get the chance to attend. When my friend invited me to go with him, I thought I had won the lotto. This was definitely the highlight of my summer.
Tickets sell out quickly, and the good seats that are up front are expensive....about $75 each. Bring a set of binoculars and avoid the $9 rental fee offered outside the gates. You may also want to bring a little cushion to sit on (also available for rent for $6). The plastic seats can be kind of rough on your tush.
So this is what happens at the Pageant of the Masters: Various works of art like sculptures and paintings...are recreated on stage using real life people. The craftsmanship, the artistry, the time and effort put into these recreations is nothing short of stunning. For several moments the work is displayed, and there is a striking similarity to the original work. If you watch closely (especially with binoculars) you can see the actors blink and sometimes even fidget as they try to hold perfectly still.
At some point during the show, there is a demonstration of how the picture comes together as stage hands roll the scenery into place and the actors take their places. It's all very fascinating to watch. Imagine taking a 3-dimensional person then putting them in costume and make-up that resembles a 2-dimensional image with the impressionistic details of a painting by Renoir.....not an easy task!!!
Come early and view works of art by local artist on display in the exhibition area outside the gates. I especially enjoyed the works on display by local school children, very cute! Oh!!! Arrive early so that you don't get gouged by paying for parking!!!!
Great place for art exhibit and they had a good restaurant inside, too. We went to see the Pageant of the Masters and their art exhibits are really interesting and some are even fun to check out, like the 3D paintings. The outdoor theater is big enough. There's only one entrance/exit so we had to wait to get out. Made us wonder what it'll be like in time of emergency. We were seated close to the back row and it was hard to see the details on the actor(s) and paintings, sometimes even with a binocular. But, awesome stage presentation and leaves you wondering what part of the painting or actor is real or painted-over.
This is something to do... but unless you are filthy rich, there are not many paintings you can afford.... still it is fun to check out the art.
Fun day plan:
1) Get your ticket to the Festival of the Arts and walk through the gallery
2) Eat lunch and get some good cheeses at Laguna Culinary Arts
3) Walk around the shops in downtown Laguna (my favorite: Duet)
4) Get some gelato at Tuttu Amore Gelato
5) Watch Masters of the Pageant
The Festival of Arts is probably the best known art festival in Laguna Beach (compared to the Sawdust and the Art A Fair). The artwork featured is probably the most pricey out of the three either. I noticed some Yelpers claiming that the attendees are snobby, but neither my bf and I encountered that. Everyone that attended were here for a good time, although this place really was just a staging area to whet people's 'appetite' for the Pageant of masters. Some Yelpers lumped the Festival of Art with the Pageant of masters, but they are two separate entities.
You do get free admittance into the Festival of Arts if you buy tickets for the Pageant of Masters. I'm not sure how much it costs for admission if you didn't buy tickets for the Pageant. While most of the artwork all displayed were definitely high caliber, I noticed that some of the vendors were the same ones featured at Art A Fair. The artwork was selling though, and a few patrons were paying $15,000 and up for some pieces. I wish I had that much money to throw around.
The Festival of Arts also houses the Tivoli restaurant. From the outside, it looks like a pretty restaurant, especially with all the festive lights they use in the evening. But my bf and I already ate at the Tivoli Terrace across the street when we visited the Art A Fair (see my separate reviews).
By itself, I think the Festival of Arts is the weakest link between the 3 sister festivals. There were some really nice pieces, but I enjoyed the other 2 festivals more. I might be a little biased though since my bf and I didn't spend as much time here as we did the other festivals. We spent too much time dallying around the Laguna Beach boardwalk and were surprised at the size of the Festival of Arts. We didn't realize that the Festival Arts shared the same grounds with the Pageant of Masters. We mistakenly thought that the festival of Arts consisted of the Sawdust and the Art A Fair. Now we know better and realize they are 3 separate and distinct festivals. We may have also been suffering from artwork viewing fatigue after visiting the 2 other festivals. This is the most adult oriented festival and I wouldn't recommend it for young children.
For parking, I recommend going to the designated city lot that offers free bus trolley service to and from the festival grounds. The cost of parking is $7.00
People dressed up as art? WTF?
People I tell about the Pageant Of The Masters and the FOA seem to always respond this way, which I understand. I went to this as a kid and after high school I ushered for a season.
Tickets are hard to come by but the show is unique enough to recommend at least once. The Pageant of the Masters is one of the anachronistic things in Laguna that has always made it different, and a night under the stars watching a theatrical event and a stroll around the grounds can be romantic and relaxing.
Beware: art is in the eye of the beholder. Some of you may love this kind of thing, some may hate it. Being from the area -- and also one who's studied art history -- I can tell you that art around town is more about contemporary art as a commodity than the kind of art that you'll find at the Laguna Art Museum. The Sawdust Festival and it's arts & crafts is where you'll find Laguna's spirit still alive.
Beware #2: The Sawdust Festival is not the hidden gem filled with amazing local arts & crafts it once was. Now it's an overpriced attraction filled with arts & crafts. Laguna's spirit of art and artistic pursuit continues to surpass the art that seems to clutter most of it's galleries.
I'm glad my ticket is good until Aug 31st because I'm gonna' have to come back before the season is over. I'm giving this a 5 because of the amount of California coastal landscapes on display in watercolor, oil, and acrylic. Personally, I like to paint oil on canvas as well as photograph the California coastline, however the watercolor and acrylic paintings of SoCal as well as beaches in NorCal 'wowed' me.
There's also quite a bit of photography on display and interestingly enough, it was not primarily "manual SLR with slide b/w film". There were a number of photographs Epson-ink-printed onto canvas produced from Digital SLRs! Mind you, the Photographers used Nikon D2X type cameras - yes, I'm a Nikon snob.
Laguna Beach is the home to the skimboard and it was nice to see art created using the skimboard as canvas. My skimboard is sitting in the garage collecting dust so I think my next project will be some central California beach painted using Oil on skimboard. hahaha that sounds funny, but I'm serious. I'm just wondering if it's good to scuff the lacquer down a bit and remove the surfer wax first (duhh). Hmm... I should probably make the switch to acrylic.
Btw, you can get Gina's pizza in the Festival although I didn't see any calzones (my favorite) there. There's also shaved ice and live music.
Summer night with nothing to do? Here you go. Enjoy the warm summer night with this show called Pagent of the Masters where famous artwork is re-created using real people in place of people in the art. Amazing show. Bring your binoculars and some wine/food and enjoy this show with a friend or a group. This place does get packed and traffic is common ground so make ample time and make reservations.
I never heard of this festival until recently when a friend did a little research and found out about the Pageant of the Masters! It's definitely something to check out at least once, if not again and again, and it's perfectly situated in Laguna Beach, my most favorite beach in Southern California! This year's theme was "A Passion for Art" as they presented paintings and sculptures that portrayed forms of romance, with music accompaniment from a live orchestra (which was spectacular). The pageant literally brings art to life as humans re-enact the painting or sculpture and leave you bewitched, bothered and bewildered in your seat (in my case, in my nose-bleed seat which was surprisingly satisfied with a recent purchase of binoculars)! We took a friend for her birthday, and she was completely intrigued, wowed and nearly moved to tears especially during the last piece, when they recreated Da Vinci's "Last Supper."
Teri Hatcher was the host for the Gala Benefit (Silent Auction) that took place right before the pageant. I was probably standing about two feet away from her, as she was scurrying to get to the pageant. She was one of the 500+ volunteers last year, and I believe appeared in one of the paintings. The re-enacters have to stay very still for 90 seconds as a commentator gives a brief explanation of each painting/sculpture, and as I sat there and imagined myself up on stage as part of the painting, I couldn't help but chuckle. There's no way they'd ever pick me, I could't hold still for five seconds or exercise any restraint from bursting outloud. Too bad, it would be so amazing.
Few tips: Definitely bring a pair of binoculars, bring a warm jacket and/or blanket, park at the $5 lots and take a trolley to the pageant (they run until 11:30pm), don't sit too close up to the front as you get more perspective from the middle-back (but I'm sure the front adds other effects the back can't provide), slip on a nice cocktail or fancy-schmancy dress (but bring a warm coat) or spiffy suit and tie, whip out your bling-blings (we were totally under-dressed although there were a handful like us, it was like prom for 35+ year olds), purchase tickets way in advance (the summer is sold out, 7/7 - 9/1), try to book tickets for the night of the gala (the gala only takes place on one weekend), get to the gala early enough to enjoy the art exhibits, free desserts (well, technically you paid for it with your admission) and red/white wine, grab one or two of the strawberry parfaits (I CAN EAT IT ALL BY MYSELF, and it's A LOT, not to mention highly calorific) and take pictures! ENJOY & BE BLOWN AWAY! (Also, if you have the right look, balance and self-control, try out for next year's pageant - it would be incredible!)
Never been to the Sawdust Festival, but the Pageant of the Masters is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, so amazing and worth every penny.
The "FOA" and the Pageant of the Masters (within the FOA grounds) is unique and top quality. Tickets to the Pageant are generally gobbled up by the members prior to the season, but anyone can join and have access to the presale. Tickets to the Pageant allow access to the FOA grounds all season. The FOA artists who exhibit have to compete each season for space, some 400 apply and a little over a 100 get to show their stuff. The FOA has numerous events and includes a restaurant on the grounds with excellent food. Great event and fun venue!
The Festival of Arts is an upscale version of the Sawdust Festival...local artisans exhibit their talents via oil, watercolor, sketching, ceramic, jewelrey, etc and all is for sale...most stuff here is on the pricier side in terms of art (Sawdust is for the cheaper goods). Fun place to visit in the summer but the HANDS DOWN BEST PART about the festival is the Pageant of the Masters. Check out: http://www.foapom.com/ to read all about the Pageant. For months before the festival, people get together (mush like the Rose Parade float prep) to create literally, LIVING art. You have to see this to believe it! And don't sit so close to the stage...or too far back. You want to sit in the middle so that you are close enough to see but far enough away that you don't see every detail. They take a work of art such as The Last Supper and people take the place of the figures in the painting. Through, light and art construction, all the pieces come together and the finished for looks EXACTLY like the painting...it's freakily cool. The Pageant is outdoors, much like the Greek or the Hollywood Bowl (but smaller scaled) in LA. Tickets aren't cheap and you need to get them in advance...try for a mid-week showing for a price cut. Kid friendly, great for a date or to go with parents!!
Let me start by saying that I gave the Festival itself a low rating but I give the Pageant of the Masters a 10++++++!! The Pageant plays July through September, is held in the evenings in an outdoor amphitheater in Laguna Beach surrounded by beautiful canyons and is put on by ALL volunteers. Famous paintings (a different theme every year) are re-created with live people, and through shadowing paints and creative lighting it looks like an actual painting on the stage. Hard to explain but a MUST see in Laguna!! With that being said, the Festival grounds are full of overpriced, arrogant, pompous, supposedly "local" artists who have let the commercial and political aspects of it all go to their heads! It used to be that the Festival was a place where locals and tourists alike could go to purchase a piece of art from their favorite local artist - a way to support and encourage the local economy. Those days are long gone! The prices on everything are insane! Take your spending dollar across the street to the Sawdust Festival, where a glass of wine is half the price and the artists will spend time talking to you about their creative process and be truly appreciative of the piece you purchase! Then go take in the Pageant! And don't forget to dress warm and bring a blanket and binoculars!
