The Sawdust Art and Craft Festival
The Sawdust Art & Craft Festival in Laguna Beach is a seasonal event where, according to local glass artist Mary Ann Guerra, people “can come to see 200 artists who build their own booth and display their wares all handcrafted with love.” She held glassblowing sessions at the event showing the art and encouraging questions from an eager audience.
This year was the 29th Annual Winter Fantasy, taking place on weekends 10 a.m. through 10 p.m. throughout December including select Fridays.
The art pieces exhibited from the local artists were diverse in their cultural backgrounds, ranging from Indian folk art to local Laguna Beach hippie culture.
The art itself was quite varied in nature, including oil paintings, photographs, custom magnets, clever contraptions, toys, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, postcards, glowing 3-D paintings, glass works, sculptures, clay works, clothing and even a banana duct-taped to a wall priced at $120,000, referencing a parallel work that sold at that aforementioned price.
Local artist Jeff Lavinsky, who painted various species of marine creatures onto maps of where the animals are geographically common, related, “I love the Sawdust Festival for giving us the ability to do what we want to do to the best of our ability,” commenting on the unique opportunities given to local artisans who can showcase their art to large audiences.
There is also live music present, with local bands, singers, and choir groups performing to onlookers.
The food at the festival —along with the tickets which sold for approximately $8.00— were all reasonably priced, especially as far as festival prices go.
The festival itself is family-friendly, with plenty of activities for small kids, including a small playground and art activities for children under four.
Essentially, the Sawdust Festival is a great place to find unique gifts for special people in your life, a place to visit if you enjoy art or just a local activity to go to on the weekend to commemorate seasonal festivities.