EDITORIAL: Aloha to summer and tourists

Summer’s almost over, and so are the “big three” art festivals in Laguna Beach. If you haven’t gotten over to them, this is the last weekend to peruse their creative offerings and enjoy the festival atmosphere.

If you haven’t yet seen the Pageant of the Masters, it may be too late and too bad for you — you’ve missed an extraordinary experience. But there’s always next year.

It’s time for one last beach picnic, one last hurrah of summer, before the start of school and the uptick in local activities. Many in Laguna are only too relieved to be saying “aloha” to the seasonal tourists until next year.

This was a big year for the Sawdust Festival and Art-A-Fair, both of which marked their 40th year of existence this summer. The festivals both had their origins in a “breakaway” art festival in 1966 after a number of local artists were juried out of — or deselected from — the Festival of Arts and decided to mount their own shows.

Sawdust organizers decided to eschew the “jurying” process — in which artists are selected based on their work — forever after.

Not that the artists at Sawdust aren’t as serious about their art as those at the other festivals; but there is a more free-wheeling, “push-the-envelope” atmosphere that was set in place by some of the earliest Sawdusters — including one who’s specialty was life-sized nude sculptures in provocative positions. For all that daring and openness, Sawdust limits its artists to those living in Laguna Beach.

Art-A-Fair organizers split off from Sawdusters over the issue of jurying. Art-A-Fair organizers decided to select their exhibitors from anywhere, but to be, ahem, selective.

The Festival of Arts has continued with both a jurying process and a local emphasis, taking artists from South Orange County cities only.

For its part, the Festival of Arts is getting ready to celebrate an even bigger anniversary. The festival will mark its 75th birthday next year — testament to the longevity of the arts in Laguna Beach.

This three-pronged system seems to have worked well over the years. For four decades, the three festivals have hung out their banners every summer side by side, within walking distance of each other, and visitors have thronged.

Long may those art banners wave, together.

Happy Labor Day. See you next year.