OUTDOOR LIFE AND THE FINE ARTS 

 tion, and gave it dignity. Its influence on the devel- 

 opment of drama and pageantry through the State 

 is very great. California, fertile, humanly speaking, 

 for celebrations, only needs such a lofty and stable 

 standard as the Greek Theater has long maintained 

 under the wise chairmanship of Professor William 

 Dallam Armes, to raise the festivals of the State to 

 a higher and higher level. The University and State 

 owe Professor Armes a great debt of gratitude and 

 recognition for his untiring efforts to keep this work 

 on the loftiest possible plane. 



Nearly every county in the State, and many a 

 town, holds an annual fair for the display of its 

 products of field or range, and at not a few of them 

 there are features which come fairly within the 

 limits of the fine arts, such as music, drama, pag- 

 eantry and the dance. Not all of these affairs are of 

 a high order of merit; strangers must not be shocked 

 or disappointed if they find some of them poor or 

 commonplace. They are, however, at least sincere 

 strivings toward adequate expression on the part of 

 a people young and inexperienced in art, to be sure, 

 but who must do and say something to give vent to 

 their feelings; and here and there, when conditions 

 are favorable, these local fetes flower into charming 

 naive affairs, great in promise if not in perform- 

 ance. It is from this rich soil of joyous revel that 

 the better art, in favored spots, will grow. 



Many places make the harvest the motive of a 

 festival. Thus Bishop, Elmhurst, Healdsburg, Santa 

 Rosa and others celebrate autumnal rites. Vacaville 

 has its Fruit Carnival; Cloverdale, Oroville, San 

 Bernardino, have Orange Fairs; Concord waxes 

 festive over its walnuts, Escondido and St. Helena 

 celebrate their grapes, Fresno its raisins, San Lean- 

 dro its cherries, Sebastopol and Watsonville their 

 apples, while Ukiah makes merry over its hops. 

 Festivals of Spring and flowers are held at Hay- 

 wards, Holtville, Los Banos, Santa Cruz and Santa 

 Rosa; Pasadena, Redlands and Portland glory in 

 their Tournaments of Roses, and Los Angeles in its 

 Fiesta de las Flores. San Jose and Saratoga dedi- 

 cate several davs to the enjoyment of their magnifi- 

 cent show of fruit blossoms, when the Santa Clara 

 Valley is snowy white with bloom; and later in the 

 Spring San Jose gives a Poppy Carnival. Water 

 Carnivals are held at Crescent City, Monte Rio, Oak- 

 land, and Victoria, British Columbia. Truckee, high 

 in the Sierras, enjoys an Ice Carnival, for California 

 is not to be outdone even in winter sports. Salinas 

 holds an interesting Rodeo; Pendleton, Oregon, a 

 Wild West Show. And so on every little com- 

 munity has its fling. 



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