Birthday Tradition; The Sawdust Festival

Did You Know? - Tivoli Too!, a stunning European courtyard, is the ideal location to host your romantic wedding and reception. Tivoli Too! is surrounded by the picturesque hills of Laguna Beach in beautiful Southern California. When you walk through the imported iron gates of Tivoli Too! you are transported to a place of old world romance, complete with a sixty foot mural of the Tuscany countryside.

Did You Know? - In most species the flowers are white, but in some species (notably H. macrophylla), can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple. In these species the color is affected by the pH of the soil; acidic which can be taken up into hyperaccumulating plants. For H. macrophylla and H. serrata cultivars, the flower color can be determined by the relative acidity of the soil: an acidic soil (pH below 6) will usually produce flower color closer to blue, whereas an alkaline soil (pH above 6) will produce flowers more pink.

Did You Know? - The Sawdust will feature the fine art and craft of over 200 Laguna Beach artists and is sure to be the highlight of your summer adventures. Join our email list to receive Sawdust updates and special offers.

Art enthusiasts, collectors, and novice artists have come to the Sawdust since our beginning in 1966 for our mix of fine art and craft. Media include hand-blown and fused glass, painting, jewelry, surf art, ceramics, clothing and textiles, wood and metal sculpture, scrimshaw, photography, and so much more.

Did You Know? - A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface. Most commonly, the wheel is mounted vertically on a horizontal axle, but the tub or Norse wheel is mounted horizontally on a vertical shaft. Vertical wheels can transmit power either through the axle or via a ring gear and typically drive belts or gears; horizontal wheels usually directly drive their load.

Water wheels were still in commercial use well into the 20th century, but they are no longer in common use. Prior uses of water wheels include milling flour in gristmills and grinding wood into pulp for papermaking, but other uses include hammering wrought iron, machining, ore crushing and pounding fiber for use in the manufacture of cloth.

Some water wheels are fed by water from a mill pond, which is formed when a flowing stream is dammed. A channel for the water flowing to or from a water wheel is called a mill race (also spelled millrace) or simply a "race", and is customarily divided into sections. The race bringing water from the mill pond to the water wheel is a headrace; the one carrying water after it has left the wheel is commonly referred to as a tailrace.

John Smeaton's scientific investigation of the water wheel led to significant increases in efficiency in the mid to late 18th century and supplying much needed power for the Industrial Revolution.