Now, breathe

Just two more days to go.

The end of the festivals has a different meaning depending on who

you are.

Artists and business owners who make most of their living during

the summer are sure to be bemoaning the end of the season.

But the rest of Laguna is just about ready to perform a huge,

collective sigh.

The streets will still be busy and the parking scarce until around

October, but the chaotic, cramped, “what the heck is going on”

feeling prevalent in the summer will be going away.

Of course, festival activities won’t be ending with the festival’s

last day. The board is about to hold elections and there’s plenty of

contention on that front. Many have taken sides and few are willing

to believe much of the claims coming out of either camp.

After finding out the board voted to even consider licensing the

Pageant of the Masters, few people are willing to believe what the

board members are saying now, that they were just looking into it and

are not planning franchising at all, which they say is different from

licensing.

But the board is saying that something needs to be done to bring

in money to construct, repair and maintain the festival structures.

Some feel the festival brings in enough money through the pageant and

the festival to pay for those needs. But board members say there are

plenty of costs that accompany the pageant.

Questions will continue to be answered, and more questions will be

asked before this is resolved, and it feels like it will get a bit

nastier before it gets any better.

Let’s appreciate for a moment how peaceful the Sawdust Festival

and Music in the Park has been. Ahhhhh.

Now we’re looking forward to when the Festival of Arts and Pageant

of the Masters will be all about the art again.