2025 Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Beach, Ca. July 5-August 29, 2025
By Linda Lee, Assistant Editor, Staff writer – IPA Magazine Travel
This year’s theme is “Gold Coast: Treasures of California”. For those of you traveling to Southern California and around the nation as well as the world, the Pageant of the Masters is the Festival of Arts most unique production in the entire world! It’s on my list of the ‘Best thing to do’ while in California. It is a MUST SEE event! Tickets sell out early every year. I’ve personally been to at least 6 of these performances; including the Gala events.
This epic show takes you on an unforgettable journey along California’s coast, showcasing masterpieces from world-class museums like the Getty, LACMA, Laguna Art Museum, de Young Museum, Timken Museum of Art, and more, plus iconic monuments from some of the state’s most famous cities. With living pictures, original music, and captivating storytelling, the Pageant brings California’s rich legacy to life in a way you won’t want to miss.
On each evening of the Festival of Arts summer schedule, ticket holders are amazed and enchanted by two hours, including a 15 minute intermission, of tableaux vivants (living pictures), incredibly faithful recreations of classical and contemporary works of art, with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces.
An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant of the Masters as the best presentation of its kind.
Highlights this year include Edgar Degas’ “Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen” from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena and Millard Sheets’ “Pleasures Along the Beach” from the Hilbert Museum at Chapman University. Performances run nightly from July 5 to August 29, 2025. Visit their website Pageant of the Masters for more information about the event as well as tickets.