Join 'Festival Of Arts' Celebrity Benefit Night Concert Saturday

LAGUNA BEACH, CA— Last year's virtual hosts will appear live at the Festival of Arts for its annual Celebrity Benefit and Concert on Saturday, August 28.

Musician, composer and producer Tony Guerrero, who has played the festival stage all summer long, will be joined by actor, comedian and writer Dave Foley to preside over the evening’s festivities.

Headlining the gala’s concert is master conga player and Grammy-award winner Poncho Sanchez. The conguero’s celebratory Latin jazz sounds are inspired by the genre’s trailblazers, including his latest album Trane’s Delight. Sanchez’s 37th recording pays tribute to John Coltrane with original compositions and Latin-tinged covers of the legendary jazz saxophonist’s oeuvre; Trane’s Delight earned a 2021 Grammy nomination. Born in Laredo, Texas, but raised in suburban Los Angeles, Sanchez has become a Latin jazz trailblazer in his own right.

The hosts will welcome another trailblazer to the evening’s lineup: Matthew Rolston.

The famed photographer has been a Pageant of the Masters fan since childhood. And this year’s Pageant is a dream come true for the Angeleno. A few of his photographs of Pageant volunteers in their full makeup are projected in this year’s show, “Made in America: Trailblazing Artists and Their Stories.”

Since the 2021 theme is all-American, the creative team behind the tableaux vivants had a dilemma. How do we close with the traditional finale of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”? The perfect solution was to include Rolston as one of the trailblazers of American art by projecting his portraits of the 13 volunteers who sit at that famous supper.

Rolston took the photos backstage during the summer of 2016. All those wonderful images are on display in “Art People: The Pageant Portraits” at Laguna Art Museum through October 24. Don’t miss it.

And don’t miss out on supporting the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters on Saturday. Last year’s cancellation was the first missed summer since the four shutdowns during World War II.

Plus, there’s always a chance you’ll be the raffle winner who drives home in a brand-new Volvo XC40 Recharge.