There’s no shortage of live entertainment for us to take in this time of year, from Jazz on the Plazz and Music in the Park to Chamber of Commerce street festivals.
Los Gatos has a long history of outdoor summer entertainment. On June 21, 1919, the festivities began with a band concert in front of the Hotel Lyndon followed by a flag raising by the Boy Scouts. There was a parade to Glen Ridge Ave. to watch an “Automobile Hill Climbing Contest.” A tennis tournament and baseball game were held at the high school, and there were picnics in Bunker Hill Park. The finale was the “Pageant of Fulfillment — A Symbolical and Historical Representation in Pageant-Play Form, in Four Movements, With Incidental Music.”
The live evening performance was held at the new Pageant Grounds, a large natural amphitheater behind the original Town Hall on East Main St. It was the perfect site for elaborately staged theatrical productions. The main stage was on the concrete foundation of the old Los Gatos Cooperative Winery, which burned down in 1888. At 90’ x 65’, it was large enough to accommodate a galloping horse! The San Jose Mercury made special note of the orchestra pit in front of the stage and described the acoustics as “remarkable.”
Pageants were community-wide, all volunteer events. Los Gatos residents wrote scripts, acted and danced on the stage, built sets, sang in the chorus, and played in the orchestra. Noted author Ruth Comfort Mitchell served as one of the directors.
The audience was seated under the stars on a gently sloping hill which is now occupied by the Civic Center. Benches made from rough wooden planks were supported by prune boxes, but uncomfortable seating did nothing to diminish the atmosphere of excitement.
On a summer evening in 1924, 3,000 people gathered to watch an original production called “El Gato de los Gatos.” The play was set on a rancho near Los Gatos in the year 1830. According to the program: “The author and the company endeavor to recreate the atmosphere and color of those romantic, idle, easy days — the Golden Age of California.”
As word spread, people including the Governor and other dignitaries traveled long distances to Los Gatos just to attend a pageant. The performances became so popular that a movement was started to plan a permanent outdoor theater with bowl-style seating.
Pageants ran for twelve consecutive years, from 1919 to 1930, and then intermittently until 1947 when interest waned. The tradition was revived once, with a special Centennial Pageant in 1987 on the 100th anniversary of the town’s incorporation.
In 2013, as part of the new Los Gatos Library project, the remaining Pageant Grounds were rescued from obscurity and reconstructed for public use as Pageant Park. The landscaped park is easily accessible via a short pathway between the library and Civic Center. It features several picnic tables and benches surrounding a small lawn. You can still see remnants of a stone waterfall which was powered by a fire hydrant on Cleveland Ave. behind and above the former stage.
Pageant Park is a hidden gem. Grab a book from the library or the Friends bookstore and enjoy the tranquility of this relaxing municipal park.
Alan Feinberg is a local historian and founder of the LOST Gatos Project www.lostgatos.com. Since 2015, his mission has been to generate enthusiasm among Los Gatos residents for remembering and preserving our town’s unique character and historic treasures before they’re lost forever. For more Los Gatos history, download the free mobile app Discover LOST Gatos by Alan Feinberg, Peggy Conaway and Sandy Decker and take a self-guided walking tour through our historic downtown.
