It would take Max Yasgur to save the Cingular LoDoFest.
Al Kraizer, founder of the music festival, alluded to the upstate New York farmer who allowed his land to be used for the legendary Woodstock music festival in 1969 as he talked about the challenges of mounting an outdoor music festival in LoDo.
“One of our best chances would be for somebody to say, ‘I own a piece of land”‘ and you can use it, said Kraizer, who has announced that his 13-year-old festival will end after this year.
The event begins at 5 tonight with stages arranged between 20th and 22nd streets and Larimer and Arapahoe streets. The main entrance is at 21st and Larimer streets.
LoDoFest concludes Saturday night when The Radiators top about 30 weekend bookings.
Then it’s adios.
“The last two years have been as hard as any festival I’ve done in 30 years,” Kraizer said. “It’s just time for LoDo to be done.”
You name it, and he would need it to continue:
a new venue, sponsors, government collaboration, fresh acts.
Kraizer said his nonprofit production company, Performance International, is still vital although its other popular events – Denver International Buskerfest, Blues & Bones Festival, and the Global Groove World Music Festival – are all struggling. None has been booked officially for 2005.
“Luckily, the Ballpark neighborhood really, really wanted us there,” Kraizer said. “But as neighborhoods grow and develop, by the time the festival rolls around, somebody is building a new condo or sushi bar.”
Could the proclaimed end of LoDoFest be a cry for help? After all, this is the last year of Cingular’s multimillion-dollar sponsorship, which was agreed upon in its contract with Performance International.
“We made the decision (to end LoDoFest) before” the contract ended, Kraizer said. “Even if Cingular would have said they wanted to go ahead I might have said, ‘Let’s talk about doing something in a different location.”‘
Maybe South Broadway?
“It’s a possibility … but there are hurdles to go through from street closures to approvals from local business,” he said.
The Denver Design Center?
“I looked at that. It doesn’t lay out easily for stages, and certain businesses open on Saturdays.”
How about a park?
“I would move everything to get into the parks,” Kraizer said, “but there’s a law in the city charter that does not allow you to charge anything.”
And an event this size requires income. The best scenario might be for city officials to step in and assist Performance International with its venue challenges, but that has yet to happen.
Some LoDo residents saw this coming.
“In years past we have worked very hard to volunteer at the LoDo festival,” said Melinda Cox, board president of the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association. “We will not be volunteering this year (because) we feel the intention and goals of the music festival shifted in the last few years. … We didn’t feel like it was a collaborative effort any more.”
Other organizations, however, including the Downtown Denver Residents Association and the Colorado Music Association, still plan to staff the festival with volunteers.
But staffing is a drop in the bucket when it comes to organizing local festivals. Kevin Scott is a former director of the Capitol Hill People’s Fair and Denver PrideFest. He said putting on big outdoor events in Denver, particularly something like LoDoFest that lasts more than one day and requires street closures, is increasingly tough.
“It’s always a challenge to keep things unique and fresh,” said Scott, who also has worked on the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. “Interests are always changing, things cost more across the board (and) sponsors change.”
As for the bands, particularly touring acts that have outgrown rock clubs but lack the draw for larger concert venues, the end of LoDoFest is a loss.
“We met really reliable people and knew it was going to be as hassle-free as possible,” said Carl Finch, singer for the Grammy winning, groove polka group Brave Combo about their LoDoFest experience.
In 25 years of dousing polka’s stiff reputation, Brave Combo has garnered enough of a following to garner invites to multiple television shows and movies, including “The Simpsons.” But for an offbeat band like this, festivals are where the fans are.
“Music markets have gotten more and more blurred,” Finch said. “There is a sense that festivals are the most eclectic.”
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
Cingular LoDoFest
The 13th annual music and performance-art festival closes up shop after this weekend. Here’s the lineup:
TONIGHT|Polytoxic, Yo Flaco! Buckner Funk & Jazz, Chuck Prophet, Chris Daniels and the Kings, Brave Combo, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Erica Brown Band, The Samples and Super Diamond
SATURDAY|Melanie Susuras Band, Meese, Dan Treanor & The African Wind Band, Bob Segura Band, Marty Jones and the Pork Boilin’ Poor Boys, Filthy Children, The Trampolines, The Skulls, Jeff Finlin Band, The Nadas, Black Lamb, The Railbenders, John Brown’s Body, Cocktail Revolution, B-Side Players, Bonerama, The Kinetics, Sonny Landreth and The Radiators|TICKETS|$7.50-$10 with free admission Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Available via TicketsWest, 1-866-464-2626, or at King Soopers locations.
