Attendance Down at Sawdust Festival

The Sawdust Festival in Laguna Canyon has survived fire and mudslides in the past month but now is battling smaller-than-expected crowds for its third annual “Winter Fantasy” art show and sale.

“Our attendance is down, and we feel that the public thinks that we’re gone, that we were burned in the fire,” Sawdust spokeswoman Theresa Marino said Monday.

The Sawdust grounds were not burned and were only slightly affected by the subsequent mudslides (which inundated the nearby Irvine Bowl, home of the Pageant of the Masters). “Winter Fantasy” started Thursday; attendance figures were down 41% from last year’s opening weekend, Marino said. The sale resumes Friday through Sunday and will conclude the following weekend.

Works by 150 artists are available along with entertainment, children’s games, and five tons of fresh snow that are brought in daily. Seven of the artists lost their homes and studios in last month’s Laguna fire, Marino said, and “everyone in the show has been affected” by the disaster.