[Dixielandjazz] 2012 Costa Mesa Festival cancelled

[Marek Boym]

Hello,
Although I have never attended you festival, I am sorry to read these
sad news: another jazz festival gone!

I have always wanted to go, but the distance from where I live to
Orange County is rather large; I live in Israel, and somehow I only
succeeded to attend US festivals twice: New Orleans in 1980, and
Waterloo Village in 1996.

Anyway, I wish you success in any future endeavours.

All the best,
Marek

On 8 August 2011 22:49,  <JBruno868 at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> 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
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
>
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>