[Dixielandjazz] 2012 Costa Mesa Festival cancelled

[JBruno868 at aol.com]

THE 12TH  ORANGE COUNTY CLASSIC JAZZ FESTIVAL 
OF  AUGUST, 2011 
IS OUR FINAL  FESTIVAL 
Dear Jazz  Fans: 
In June, we decided  to end the Orange County Classic Jazz Festival with 
the 2011 event.  Badge  and hotel sales, sponsorships and donations have 
declined steadily.  At the  same time, festival costs have risen. 

ATTENDANCE 
Badge sales  declined 25% over the last two years: guests from California, 
down 9% and from  other states, down 30%. We attribute this to the rise in 
gasoline and airfare  costs. 
This year, we did  sell out the Hilton, but sold only 15 rooms at The Hotel 
Hanford versus 62 rooms  in 2010. Overall, hotel sales were down. 

SPONSORSHIP  FUNDS 
We receive funds  from four sources: a grant from the Costa Mesa Conference 
& Visitors Bureau,  a grant from the Hilton/Orange County, vendor 
commissions and individual  donations from you.  For 2011, sponsorships were down  
33%. 

OUR  COSTS 
Festival costs are  fixed: bands, advertising, printing, sound.  It does 
not matter if 100 or  10,000 people attend.  The costs are the same. 
The greatest hit to  our budget has been air travel with marketing costs 
close behind.  When  sales drop, these increases impact cash flow even more 
so.   
Considering growing  expenses, an unstable economy and declining sales, it 
is clear to us that we may  well experience a loss in 2012.  The Bakers and 
Dieballs do not take  salaries.  In fact, 13 years ago when we began 
planning the first festival,  we agreed that it did not matter how much work it 
would take as long as we  delivered a first-class festival.  We believe we have 
accomplished our  goal.   
Please realize, we  work on the festival literally hundreds of hours 
year-round, plus we are  unwilling to dip into our personal funds to break even.  
We have done the  festival well for 13 years and have decided to end it with 
this year.  We  hope you both understand and support our decision.  
Those of you who  preordered for 2012 will receive refunds either by return 
of your check, or if  you gave us a credit card order, it will not be 
processed. 
We have had a great  run for 12 years, and we want to thank everyone who 
made the Orange County  Classic Jazz Festival one of the finest jazz events in 
the world.  We’ll  miss you all. 
  
John  A.  Dieball                              Connie  Baker                
                Larry Baker