‘Festival of Britain’ Study in Art of Hucksterism?

To be, or not to be . . . an arts festival. That is the question.

If you’ve been in the vicinity of the South Coast Plaza mall lately, you’ve probably noticed banners hanging from light poles on all borders, proclaiming the “Festival of Britain.”

And well may you may wonder: “What is this Festival of Britain? A travel-agency promotion, a fish-and-chips sale at the mall or what?”

If, however, you are one of more than 300,000 Southlanders on the festival mailing list, by now you have received a festival program and ticket information booklet, and have read that numerous arts and entertainment events and assorted amusements constitute this Festival of Britain.

But that first impression wasn’t incorrect.

A good portion of the festival--and in fact its raison d’etre --is indeed a mall fish-and-chips sale to the nth power, to wit, “the largest British consumer goods promotion ever staged in the United States,” according to the organizers. And the retail promotion is based exclusively at South Coast Plaza, whose idea the whole thing was in the first place.

Costa Mesa City Council members were so impressed at the revenue-generating potential of this two-week event--which officially begins today (though some of the arts events already are finished, and others won’t start for a while yet)--that they voted in June to kick in $400,000 to help promote it.

Their reasoning: South Coast Plaza officials are targeting for $20 million in sales per week at the mall during this event, a projected 50% increase over average weekly sales during 1989. And via the city’s percentage of those millions of Andrew Jacksons passing over sales counters, council members hope to recoup all or more of their contribution.

BritFest organizers are worried, though, that the arts and entertainment component is not receiving enough attention on its own merits.

They note that they’ve set up a separate nonprofit agency to support and promote these programs, which range from performances by the reconstituted D’Oyly Carte Opera Company to a weekend of readings in Fullerton featuring the tiny but ambitious Poets Reading Inc.

In addition, they are doling out nearly $300,000 in grants to the various presenting and performing groups to help pay for many events that clearly would not have existed otherwise. And, the festival is fostering a greater degree of interaction among a wider variety of local arts groups than has been seen before.

Still, the question nags:

Do these events signal a new era of sophistication for Orange County arts, or are they the ‘90s marketing equivalent of the organ grinder’s monkey, who delights passersby with his antics, all the while collecting dimes for his master?

Officials argue that there is a complete division between the commercial and artistic aspects of the Festival of Britain. Yet the program lists exhibits taking place in the mall itself--conveniently located within a credit card’s throw of many fine participating merchants--right next to those at the Performing Arts Center, South Coast Repertory, Muckenthaler Cultural Center and other actual arts venues.

The not-so-subtle invitation to the public? After you’ve gone to the Center or SCR, stop into the mall for the “Robes of the Realm” show or the “British Design 1790-1990” exhibition. And as long as you’re there. . . .

Let’s make one thing clear. There’s nothing objectionable to commercial sponsorship of arts events. Such underwriting can help expose more people to theater, music, art and dance than those who can afford to pay $10, $20, $30 or more for tickets to independently organized events. But there’s a line between sponsorship of a true arts festival--where, in my book, the primary motivating force is support and promotion of the arts--and hucksterism, where entertainment is tacked on to a retail promotion as a lure for shoppers.

Ultimately, it’s not all that important--though it’s certainly true--that many of the key events included under the Festival of Britain umbrella would have taken place anyway, festival or not. (Among them: Newport Harbor Art Museum’s retrospective on British sculptor Tony Cragg, the D’Oyly Carte engagement, SCR’s West Coast premiere of David Hare’s “The Secret Rapture,” the Grove Shakespeare Festival production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the Laguna Art Museum’s “Pursuit of the Marvelous” exhibit, and the Orange County Philharmonic Society’s London Classical Players concert. Officials at those organizations all said the programs were under consideration and would have taken place--if, perhaps, not at precisely the same time of year--had South Coast Plaza mall officials never dreamed up the Festival of Britain.)

What is important to the public at large is that a healthy number of British arts and entertainment offerings will be available essentially at the same time. Another positive side effect: smaller groups that normally have to promote themselves with cheaply printed flyers slipped under windshield wipers now are beneficiaries of a major marketing campaign.

“We have our name and our picture in the program--our whole gig is being read all over Southern California,” beamed Michael Logue, founder of Poets Reading Inc. “We are on mailing lists that we would have no chance of acquiring on our own. This is gold for (our and similar) organizations.”

But would there even have been an arts festival without the mutton sale at South Coast Plaza? (And, make no mistake, this is South Coast Plaza’s game. One arts participant, not based in Costa Mesa, said he asked festival officials about including merchants in his city in the retail promotion, and was told that South Coast Plaza has exclusive rights to all commercial activities. Why? Is it because South Coast Plaza is owned by C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, the company and family that, having been the prime forces behind the construction of the Performing Arts Center and South Coast Rep, has the best connections with the highest-profile Orange County arts groups?)

Truth be told, the city of Costa Mesa never would have voted $400,000--nearly half the arts component’s total budget of $850,000 to $900,000--if the only thing going on was arts.

Fact: At the same meeting that the council approved money for the Festival of Britain, it effectively killed a plan to form a new agency to provide millions of dollars for arts and tourism within the city.

Plus: The council recently voted down a request (introduced, by the way, by one of the council members) for $20,000 to pay the Pacific Symphony to perform for county supervisors and various VIPs at black-tie opening ceremonies for the new John Wayne Airport terminal. Councilwoman Sandra L. Genis condemned the expenditure as being too elitist before siding with the majority to can it.

But along comes South Coast Plaza and the Festival of Britain and--BING!--the Pacific Symphony gets $20,000 to support its “Royal Gala Concert” and black-tie dinner, for which tickets are $250 per person.

BritFest officials say it’s important that all the art events be recognized collectively--and hailed as a festival--rather than individually because these two weeks mark an important step forward in the development of the still-young Orange County arts scene, and without a festival imprimatur , the impact of all this might be considerably lessened.

In other words: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to lump together a bunch of mostly exciting entertainments, even though they add to the outrageous fortune of only one landlord, or to take arms against a sea of haughty boasts, and by opposing, risk ending them?

I’ll be looking forward to many of the events coming our way in the days and weeks ahead. But as to launching a cheer for Orange County’s first great arts festival? I’ll keep waiting, thanks, for one that’s not stamped “Made exclusively for South Coast Plaza.”