Summer Attendance Figures Reported Up 2% at Sawdust Festival, 25% at Art-a-Fair

Two Laguna Beach arts festivals Thursday reported increased attendance for their 1988 summer runs, and one said its new location brought in an additional 25,000 visitors.

Sawdust Festival attendance increased 2% to 244,222, spokeswoman Tina Arana said. She put last year’s attendance at 239,410.

The 22nd annual festival opened July 2 and closed Sunday. Arana said 220 artists and craftsmen took part in the show, which took place at 935 Laguna Canyon Road.

The nearby Art-a-Fair, in its 23rd year, saw attendance leap to 125,000 from 100,000 last year, according to the festival’s general manager, Rich Archibald.

Archibald attributed the 25% increase to Art-a-Fair’s new location at 777 Laguna Canyon Road, which is across the street from the Festival of Arts, the oldest and most famous of the city’s art shows. About 180 artists participated in Art-a-Fair, which also ran from July 2 to Aug. 28, Archibald said.

Unlike the Sawdust Festival and Festival of Arts, Art-a-Fair does not require its vendors to reside in Laguna Beach and its environs, Archibald said. As a result, some participants came from as far away as Oregon, Florida and the Canadian province of British Columbia, he said.

Festival of Arts officials estimated 220,000 to 250,000 people attended their show but said final figures will not be available until an audit is completed in October.

The Festival of Arts is held at 650 Laguna Canyon Road and is best known for the accompanying Pageant of the Masters, a theatrical production in which actors are used to depict characters in paintings, sculptures and artifacts.

The Festival of Arts and Art-a-Fair concentrate on paintings and “fine arts,” while the Sawdust Festival is more of an arts-and-crafts show featuring pottery and the like.

New this year was Starfair, a fourth Laguna Beach festival that followed a “New Age” theme. Starfair offered such items as “floral arrangements, a Plazma Ball and synchroenergizer (and) star chamber,” according to its promotional material.

Unlike the other three festivals, Starfair, at 793 Laguna Canyon Road, was a profit-making enterprise, although an undisclosed portion of its proceeds was to be donated to “environmental” causes, spokeswoman Judy Goffin said.

Goffin said attendance figures were not available.