Despite Origins, Festival of Britain Was Great

Orange County’s Festival of Britain was an unusual amalgam of events. It was a retail event, designed to promote British goods and make money for South Coast Plaza. It was an artistic festival for the South Coast Plaza area with productions at South Coast Repertory, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and the showing of Oscar-winning English films, among many other events.

There were free events, such as a performance at Town Center Park by Beatles impersonators, Rain. There were film festivals, plays, art exhibits, concerts, lectures, held all over Orange County.

In spite of the fact that most of the cultural events were of the highest quality, some critics implied that the festival was limited in scope and vision because it was part of a retail promotion.

In the Calendar section (“The Real Britain Was Not Seen in Arts Festival,” Oct. 29), Cathy Curtis explained, “Had the festival been the brainchild of a cultural group or a Peter Sellars-style impresario, had it been conceived solely as an arts event . . . we’d have stood a better chance of understanding the real Britain, and the overwhelming social tensions confronting it today.”

Cathy’s description of an ideal festival may work in Los Angeles, a city that has a cultural history and a plethora of benefactors.

But, Orange County is young culturally. Thirty years ago, it was little more than orange groves.

Today, its economy is booming, and it is striving hard to catch up with major cities, culturally.

Business people such as Henry Segerstrom, co-chairman of the Festival of Britain, and Arnold Beckman are responsible for many of the county’s cultural accomplishments thus far.

Orange County’s icons are not Peter Sellars or Zubin Mehta. They are business people who realize that a county does not thrive by business ventures alone, that the soul of an area is its culture.

So what if the Festival of Britain started as a retail event and moved into the cultural venues?

If South Coast Plaza continues to make money while it enriches the county culturally, that’s great. If business continues to boom here, maybe Zubin Mehta will move here.

The bottom line is that I loved the Festival of Britain.

Seeing “The Red Shoes” on a large screen was a thrill. I loved “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a play that was publicized as part of the festival.

In the two years that I’ve lived here, I’ve seen the quality and variety of culture improve steadily. If business helps to bring culture here, I say more power to the business.

Los Angeles may have the clout to thumb its nose at Orange County. But that’s because the city to the north became rich and famous on the movie industry, and then got itself culture.

Now it’s Orange County’s turn.

ELIZABETH GOLDNER

Huntington Beach