No one wanted it to end.
Not the huge crowd, the tired artists, the rocking band, the ice cream vendor – everyone at the Sawdust Festival’s last day seemed to say, “just one more.”
One more blown glass, one more song, one more beer.
Maybe the artists were just punch-drunk from the grueling summer schedule or maybe visitors were just happy to get out and play. But the Sawdust had a revitalized spirit on Sunday.
It was damn fun.
But the end had to come sometime, and the Christmas show is just around the corner. As a bonus, every artist I talked to said business was pretty good this summer, which is not always the case.
Several booths were decimated with little inventory. Others, you could tell, were picked over. All good news for the artists.
A few artists seemed delirious from the grind.
“How do you think I feel?” said Karen Petty sarcastically, smiling. “I’m happy, I’m sad. It seems like I’ve been living here my whole life.”
The bittersweet ending was a perfect exclamation point for the Sawdust, which is trying to maintain its “only Laguna artists” mantra. As Laguna’s cost of living continues to rise, it will need good summer business to keep everyone afloat.
In the meantime, there were more important things for the artists to do on Sunday – like get a second wind for the after-party, led by World Anthem.
Agh … the Sawdust, Laguna’s last old soul.
