EDITORIAL:’Festivalling’ time ahead

Laguna Beach is in the process of its annual transformation from a small, local beach and surf town to a summer destination for sun-and-art seekers from around the world.

You could call it the season of “Festivus,” (with due recognition to the “Seinfeld” show for inventing the name).

This weekend, the “big three” art festivals will throw open their doors with fanfare to welcome what they hope will be throngs of the art-loving and art-buying public for two months of exciting and exhausting “festivalling.”

The partying began Monday with a VIP preview at the Art-A-Fair, sporting a new Italianate look, many more artists and a sense of revitalization.

Tuesday was the “locals” party at the Sawdust Art Festival, always tops for informal fun and entertainment, in addition to beautifully made arts and crafts.

The Festival of Arts holds its opening party Saturday, promising not only wonderful artwork but special events to celebrate the “mother” festival’s 75th year.

Artists who have spent the winter months creating their “product” will have some 60 days to move it off the shelf.

Merchants in town will have thousands of new customers for their flip-flops, frozen yogurts, lattes, beach towels and sun hats. Souvenirs that didn’t find a home last year have another chance to be carried away as a reminder of a wonderful vacation.

The summer trolleys will ring their bells. Art will be created, bought and sold. New visitors and returnees will discover anew the beauty of the city’s coves and reefs, and the charm of this small town.

Visitors will enjoy new “executive toilets” at the Act V remote parking lot and the beautiful public art that will welcome them to this city of the arts.

Residents, on the other hand, will be plotting their new routines around the traffic jams that are the inevitable result of too many vehicles on too-small roads.

The season of “Festivus” is hard on many locals, but it is the lifeblood of the small businesses and artists that give Laguna its special, creative quality of life that is found nowhere else.