90th parade, a nod to Pageant of the Masters’ colorful history

Enthusiasts came out in droves on Saturday, July 22, to celebrate the Pageant of the Masters’ 90th season by taking part in a lively and colorful parade through Laguna Beach’s downtown.

The parade, which welcomed festival revelers to dress up as their favorite artists or works of art, was a nod to the pageant’s very first living pictures parade in 1933, which took place during the Festival of Arts’ second year.

In that first parade, a group of people dressed as “Whistler’s Mother,” “Blue Boy,” “Mona Lisa,” “The Sistine Madonna” and an array of other characters, led interested onlookers to the Festival of Arts, then located near Hotel Laguna.

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According to archived reports from the South Coast News, some 2,000 spectators lined Ocean Boulevard to watch the parade as it made its way to a large tent set up for the exhibition in 1933. Admission was 10 cents, which included watching the dressed-up parade characters pose inside a rolling wagon stage not much larger than a double phone booth.

The very first tableau presented in 1933’s “Spirit of the Masters’ Pageant” was “The Girl of the Golden West,” a painting by Louis Betts.

This year’s Pageant of Masters -is themed “Art Colony: In the Company of Artists” and tells the stories of artists and their connections to history.

Now, the show is set in the 2,600-seat Irvine Bowl and presented under the starry sky next to the canyon wilderness. This year’s program includes pieces never displayed before, more music than past years and theatrical illusions, said Diane Challis Davy, who is now in her 27th season as the show’s director.

Challis Davy said preparing for the show this year was “like starting with a blank canvas.”

While in past years, she’s honored many artists with memorable recreations of their work, this year she shifted focus to considering what elements draw artists together, how they inspire each other and what makes them want to work together. Laguna Beach’s art colony was her main inspiration.

“I’m interested in what makes a place an art colony,” she said, adding that this year’s pageant explores the essential ingredients of an art colony and considers what role landscape or a certain light in the sky can play in the selection of a place for artists to gather. Besides Laguna Beach, the show also highlights Taos, New Mexico, and East Los Angeles.

Saturday’s procession started at Heisler Park, paraded along Main Beach and then crossed over to the Promenade on Forest Avenue, making its way through the downtown and ending at the Festival of Arts grounds along Laguna Canyon Road.

Once at the grounds, Challis Davy was expected to select the person with the winning costume from among the parade participants. Fifteen of the pageant’s longtime volunteers were to receive awards. And Challis Davy was expected to be recognized for her longtime commitment.

Challis Davy first got involved as a volunteer cast member in 1976 and became part of the pageant’s staff by working in costuming in 1980. She became the show’s assistant director and then its director in 1996.