Real snow and Santa

This Saturday, where can Lagunans expect to have a snowball fight, partake in a tete-a-tete with Santa and watch gifts being created?

Nope, not the North Pole. Try 935 Laguna Canyon Road.

The Sawdust Art Festival’s 16th-annual Winter Fantasy will feature the work of 170 artists from around the country; locals get in free Saturday after 2 p.m., and the community tree lighting ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m.

The event will run four weekends, until Dec. 10.

“We work really hard to make sure it doesn’t just look like the Sawdust Festival with Christmas lights,” said longtime exhibitor David Nelson, who was on the Winter Fantasy’s original committee.

Exhibitors will offer everything from jewelry to musical instruments to stained glass, with something at all price ranges.

“I’m still as excited as the first year I did it,” Nelson said. He had come to help decorate the grounds on Tuesday directly from a trip to Texas; his ticket was still in his pocket.

“It’s a community-invited affair, and that makes me feel really good, because I love my town; I love my city,” he said.

Balloon artists, circus theaters and Dickens carolers will join rock and jazz musicians throughout the run of the show.

“We always have Santa, and our Santa’s the best Santa in town,” said Rebecca Meekma, community and media relations manager for the festival.

The Santa who graces the Sawdust is a member of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, which has a code of ethics and requires Santas to stay “in character” all year.

The winter show is also different in that artists from around the country are allowed to participate; the summer festival is strictly for Laguna Beach artists, about 100 of which choose to participate in the winter show as well.

This year’s event will host artists from Wisconsin, Virginia, Indiana and Arizona, in additional to a bumper crop of Californians.

Some booths were still bare on Tuesday; others packed to the gills with stockings, garlands and fake snow.

One man was carefully painting a sleigh; another stood on a ladder, hanging lights. Ninety cubic yards of fresh sawdust sat outside the grounds, awaiting distribution.

One corner of the grounds has been turned into a “western”-theme photo opportunity area, complete with landscape mural; another area is now a winter wonderland — with real snow.

About 15 trees have been decorated by community organizations—from the Friends of the Hortense Miller Garden to SchoolPower to Help Blue Water—and are on view in the Towne Square area at the center of the grounds.

A large, iridescent castle situated in a grove under the festival bridge immediately draws the eye. Created by Ryan Gourley out of a wood frame, foam core and laser paper, the structure looks like an abalone ice castle.

Gourley has constructed everything from gas stations to Egyptian tombs for past clients; he made an ice cave for last year’s Winter Fantasy.

“They just give me a dream, and I say ‘okay,’” Gourley said.

Textile artist Reem Khalil busily trimmed a tree outside her booth with friends to the sounds of reggae music.

This will be Khalil’s third Winter Fantasy; she will put out special velvet dusters, scarves and other winter garb especially for the event.

“Children just love the snow,” she said. “It really shows us Christmas is here, and it’s just so cozy.”

The Sawdust Art Festival’s Winter Fantasy is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends through Dec. 10. Admission is $5.75 for adults, $3 for children ages 6 to 12, and free to ages 5 and under. A season pass is available for $9.

For more information, call (949) 494-3030 or visit www.sawdustartfestival.org.