EDITORIAL:Festival merits congratulations

The Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters are turning 75 this year and festival representatives kicked things off Sunday with a heartfelt “thank you� to those who were and are instrumental in making the Festival happen and keeping it healthy.

The Festival of the Arts is the grandmother of Laguna Beach’s art community, the precursor to the “big three� festivals — including Sawdust and Art-A-Fair — and the bedrock of the city’s art-oriented economy.

The arts has long been a draw in Laguna, even with the city’s beaches and natural beauty to attract visitors.

The Festival is also the home of the Pageant of the Masters, a form of performance art — or art performance — that is unique to Laguna Beach.

It’s not easy to make a living as an artist, or to keep an arts organization growing, but the Festival of the Arts has figured out how to do just that.

The organization provides a place for artists to show and sell their works, and the Pageant gives artisans and artists year-round paid work.

The Festival of the Arts spawned the Sawdust and Art-A-Fair shows some 40 years ago, and all three have thrived doing their jobs a little differently.

Laguna Beach should be, and is, very proud to be the home of the Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters, which will no doubt be around to celebrate their centennial 25 years from now.

We congratulate the Festival and the talented, stalwart people who keep it thriving year after year.

Festival organizers are planning some wonderful events all year long to celebrate this milestone.