by Mark McDeormott
A festival is defined as a day, or days, of celebration. And while the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair has always been known less for its Lollapalooza-alikeness, and more for its feeling of civic goodness, with Girl Scouts, craft booths, parades, and dozens of local philanthropies raising funds for good causes, there has always been a festiveness at its heart. Music, art, and dancing are the fabric of the event, which brings the community together every early October in the spirit of celebration.
The 51st Annual Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair, which takes place this weekend, has doubled down on its celebratory aspects. The Hometown Fair board, the 22-person body of volunteers who make the event happen each year, has placed an emphasis on music and performance. This year, over three dozen performances will take place at the Fair, ranging from the locally famous Battle of the Bands (with deejay KC Campbell emceeing) to bluegrass, a poetry circle, several dance troupes, Pancho’s resident legends Better Daze, and even a mariachi band. A lot of the variety will occur within the Community Showcase at the Joslyn Center.
“We have more breadth, in terms of performances, than we ever had before,” said Dana Old, president of the Hometown Fair board. “So I think the community will be thrilled to see the variety we will be able to offer this time around.”
Perhaps most significantly, Pat Dietz will be in the house. The co-founder of Dietz Brothers Music, the school and store that has nurtured and launched thousands of musical performers over the last four decades, passed away earlier this year in a tragic accident. The Fair board is honoring the contributions made by both Pat Dietz and his brother John by moving the former South Stage from its spot on the grass near the Joslyn Center to Live Oak field, making for a bigger, better musical setting. It will now be called Dietz Stage.
“Of everything going into the 2023 Hometown Fair, first and foremost I am proud of this board for the dedication and renaming of the South Stage to the Dietz stage,” Olds said. “The Dietz family has been and will continue to be an integral part of Manhattan Beach and the Hometown Fair. We thought there was no better way to memorialize Pat Dietz’s legacy and continue to support his family and the community than by naming this new stage after his family. It was a unanimous conversation among us.”
Carrie Dietz Brown, Pat’s daughter, said the honor was “a sweet thing” for the board to do. It was also in keeping her father’s capacity for sweetness.
“My dad’s generosity had no end,” she said. “Any opportunity he got, he was always going to share the wealth. He believed in the true sense of community. If you have something cool, it will certainly be cooler and more interesting to include others. Anytime he played live, you could see his generosity in his guitar playing.”
She remembered how he’d always let his bandmates take the first solos, invite his students on stage to sing or play a tune with the band “to bulk up a tune,” and take turns choosing genres with his brother John. Last year, he called Carrie up on stage to sing the Rolling Stones “Dead Flowers.”
“He could tell I was nervous walking up to the little stage,” she said. “As I borrowed his guitar, he laughed. ‘Let’s take it low and slow, Carrie.” We sounded great, and as I left the stage he gave me a hug and laughed. ‘Fun time,” he said, as he gracefully cued the drummer to call the next tune.”
Always, there is a next tune. The Dietz Stage will be rechristened at 1 p.m. on Sunday, and a performance by the Dietz plan will immediately follow. John Dietz, who was in bands with his brother since the 1960s, said he and the family deeply appreciate the Hometown Fair board’s gesture in renaming the stage. It’s somehow more than a symbolic gesture, since Dietz Brothers music has lifted so many musicians onto stages, and this particular stage is one that he and Pat particularly loved playing. Playing live, he said, has personally helped him get through the devastating loss of his brother. On Sunday, he’ll be joined with several of his and Pat’s closest musical compatriots.
“I’ve been playing a lot, and that kind of is what has kept me going,” he said. “Music is very healing. I’ve been playing with a lot of the guys Pat and I played with for years, and the guys on that stage that day, we’ve been playing with, some of them, our whole lives. It is going to be fun.”
The Fair, as always, will be rich with vendors — including 200 arts and crafts booths and 60 food and games booths. Over 60 non-profit organizations from all over the South Bay will also have booths. Philanthropic endeavors are central to the event, which itself raises money for scholarships awarded to Mira Costa High School students on their way to college. Another new feature this year, in keeping with its festival vibe, is the addition of Rock ‘N Brews curated beer selection in the Fair’s beer garden.
Mayor Richard Montgomery expressed wonder that an event with this many moving parts is all put together as a labor of love by the Hometown Fair board. He said this is what makes it a uniquely local celebration.
“It is completely organized and run by 22 volunteers,” Montgomery said. “And did you know that all volunteers must be MB residents to be on the Fair Board? Everything from pony rides to petting zoos to a wine garden and a beer garden to three music stages to hand made crafts symbolize two days of fun for over 40,000 visitors.”
Old, who has been on the board for six years, said that part of the joy for her and fellow volunteers is the comradery they experience working together on behalf of the community.
“For me, honestly, the Hometown Fair hits home,” Olds said. “I’m born and raised in Manhattan Beach. I grew up going to all the Manhattan Beach schools. And so when I moved back, and saw that there was an opening [on the board] in 2018, it immediately brought back memories of when I was working a booth for the La Vista newspaper from Mira Costa High….So for me it really has that personal tie. I had an 18-month-old at the time, so just to be able to do something to make him proud and our community proud is really what stood apart for me, personally. I’d say more broadly, for the board there is no organization like ours in terms of being part of such a massive event that the community looks forward to every year. What we’re able to do for our community is incredible.” ER
