Eco-friendly festival can't sustain itselfErr, could it perhaps be that most people aren't as enamoured with the idea of winding the clock back to the 1800s as you are, Howie?
It was the first New World Festival of Eco-Friendly Science and Technology and quite possibly the last.
The event near the beach in Santa Monica, which had been scheduled to run through Sunday, was shut down abruptly Saturday afternoon.
Howard Mauskopf, the festival's organizer, said he needed to shut down because so few people had shown up. "We're in a position where we don't have the financial ability to continue," he said, adding that he would have needed eight to 10 times the crowd that was present to make ends meet. He said he is going to try to reimburse food vendors next week.
"I don't know why people didn't come," he said.
Still, those who joined in are one big happy clappy collective. They'll take it on the chin if it leads to a world where more emphasis is placed on the planet, and less on money.
Rose Faranal, a vendor who sold organic pizzas and chili at the event, said customers purchased food tickets from the festival, which they could redeem at her booth and others. She said she was owed hundreds of dollars, but didn't know if or how she'd be reimbursed.Oh.
"This is what we got paid with," she said, holding up hundreds of paper slips. "Useless money."
Food vendor Shawn Deleo said he knew something was off when the festival began Friday and there was no hot water for food preparation. He also had a stack of paper tickets, and wondered how he would get paid.
"I kind of had a bad feeling from the start," he said.
Clothing and jewelry vendor Kate Tevebaugh of Santa Monica said she didn't think the event was properly marketed — that people didn't show because they didn't know it was happening.Oh, I dunno. They invested in a very funky graphic.
"This is a disaster," she said. "A complete disaster."That's California for ya, love.
