The World Comes to Laguna

For eight weeks every summer, a canyon in Laguna Beach transforms into one of the most distinctive cultural events in California. The Festival of Arts — running since 1932 and home to the world-famous Pageant of the Masters — is part open-air gallery, part community celebration, and entirely unlike anything else happening in the country.

This summer's lineup promises to be the most ambitious in years, with over 140 juried artists exhibiting in the hillside grounds of the Laguna Beach Sawdust Art Festival and the Laguna Art-A-Fair running concurrently. We spoke with several participating artists to find out what they're bringing this year.

The Pageant of the Masters

The Pageant is the festival's signature event: a nightly outdoor theatrical production in which living people recreate famous works of art — tableau vivant taken to a level of precision that defies easy description. The 2025 production, themed Stories of Art, draws from works spanning antiquity to the twentieth century.

❧

“

The Pageant asks an audience to sit with a single image for two or three full minutes. In 2025, that's a radical act.

❧

Tickets for the Pageant typically sell out by April. If you're reading this in January, book now.

The Open-Air Gallery

The juried exhibition is the heart of the festival for serious collectors. This year's 140 artists represent the broadest range of media in the festival's history — oil and watercolor alongside sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and digital prints. The grounds are walkable in about ninety minutes if you're browsing; allow a full afternoon if you're buying.

Festival Essentials

• Dates: July 5 – August 31, 2025
• Location: 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach
• Hours: 10am – 11:30pm daily; Pageant at 8:30pm
• Tickets: Gallery admission $10; Pageant from $30 (reserve in advance)
• Getting there: Festival shuttle runs from Laguna Hills and downtown — parking near the venue is extremely limited