Laguna Event Too Disruptive
* Re “Behind-the-Scenes Drama,” June 28:
The dispute over rent between the city of Laguna Beach and the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters is amusing. Having recently moved to a new residence, I have a number of boxes to give the pageant to facilitate their move out of town.
The pageant wants to pay only $1 for rent each year! They are currently paying 13.75% of the festival’s gross receipts. They ought to be paying even more.
The city provides police, fire and paramedic support each summer. We had 3 million visitors in a town of 23,000 residents.
The onslaught of summer tourism makes downtown an almost impossible place to go for local residents. The onslaught now runs from April to November.
The Pageant of the Masters is not the defining event that makes Laguna Beach an art colony. It is the artists and our environment that contribute to the perception that Laguna is an “artist friendly” community.
Wouldn’t it be great to replace the pageant with other types of cultural events that are more attractive to the residents of the community?
FRED S. DROZ
Laguna Beach
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