Sawdust Art Festival

What Sawdust is

The Sawdust Art Festival is a nonprofit art show on a wooded canyon site at 935 Laguna Canyon Road. Artists work out of individual booths along paths covered in wood chips, and visitors can watch demonstrations, talk with the people who made the work and buy it on the spot. Sawdust runs a summer festival and a winter one, the Winter Fantasy.

Sawdust says more than 180 Laguna Beach artists exhibit across its summer and winter shows. The summer show is limited to full-time Laguna Beach residents. That rule sets it apart from Art-A-Fair, whose exhibitors come from many places, and from the Festival of Arts, whose exhibitors are Orange County artists.

2027 dates

Sawdust has not posted 2027 summer dates. As of October 2026, its summer festival page says the entertainment calendar is coming soon, and its artist page describes the summer show as running all summer long, seven days a week. This page lists no dates until Sawdust publishes them. Check the summer festivals guide for the dates the other organizers have posted.

Spring Fling

Sawdust’s festival menu lists a Spring Fling next to the summer and winter shows. Its Spring Fling page still shows the 2026 run: three Friday-to-Sunday weekends from April 2 to 18, 2026, open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. That run has passed, and no later Spring Fling date is posted.

Admission and discounts

Sawdust does not publish a 2027 summer price. Its plan-your-visit page says you can buy tickets online ahead of time or at the ticket booth. It lists these ways to pay less or nothing:

• Locals Nights, OC Resident Nights and Free County Days, with valid ID. The free days on the page are dated for the 2026 summer show.
• A group rate for parties of ten or more.
• Free entry for veterans on any day of the festival, with military ID at the box office.

A Passport to the Arts also covers Sawdust. Visit Laguna Beach describes the Passport as one-time entry to each of the three, a one-time free parking pass at the Act V lot and discounts at other art organizations. It excludes the Pageant of the Masters. Confirm the current terms and price at a festival ticket office.

Rules and access

• No pets. Service dogs under the ADA are allowed on a leash or harness, and a supervisor must approve them before entry.
• No smoking or vaping.
• Bags are subject to inspection.
• Ask before you photograph an artist’s work.
• Shirts and shoes are required, and swimsuits are not accepted.
• The grounds have wood chips, slopes and elevation changes. Sawdust has two beach-style wheelchairs available by reservation at 949-494-3030. Strollers can be tricky on the paths, and Sawdust suggests a baby carrier or light all-terrain wheels. It has no stroller parking.

Getting there and parking

In summer 2026 the city ran a Canyon Route trolley between the Act V peripheral lot (Lot 16) and the festivals and downtown, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily. It also ran Summer Breeze service from a free lot at 16355 Laguna Canyon Road in Irvine, Thursday to Sunday from July 2. As of October 2026 the city has not posted a 2027 summer trolley schedule. The parking guide and the getting around guide cover lots, permits and routes.

A short history

Sawdust says it held its first show in 1965 on the Peacock lot near Coast Highway. In 1968 the Funk family leased the festival a three-acre eucalyptus grove in the canyon, and the festival later bought the property it occupies today. Sawdust says it started the Winter Fantasy in 1991.

Nearby summer events

The Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters share Laguna Canyon Road with Sawdust. The July and August guides cover weather and what else is on.