2,000 Youngsters Cavort at the Sawdust Festival

Youth had its day in the sun Monday--the first-ever Children’s Day at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival--when nearly 2,000 youngsters from Orange and Los Angeles counties turned out for hands-on arts, crafts and entertainment.

The festival “is normally geared for children 6 and up,” spokeswoman Tina Arana said. But this was intended also to involve younger children as part of an overall expansion of festival’s educational and community outreach efforts.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the kids went into the festival booths to color, paint and make crafts. They were also entertained by jugglers, mimes and magicians.

Arana said the turnout far exceeded expectations. So will there be another “Children’s Day” next year?

“We had some of the typical problems you’d expect with very young kids--a couple of things got broken,” she said. “A lot of parents would love to have it again. Our members will help us decide after we discuss the problems and the advantages of doing it.”