THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 6, 1994 TAG: 9406060061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940606 LENGTH: NORFOLK
Despite a lean budget and less space, Harborfest '94 came to what appeared to be a successful conclusion Sunday.
{REST} Figures won't be available for several days, but preliminary reports from vendors are good, said Harborfest organizers, who anticipate an increase in revenues after two years of decline.
For the past two years festivalgoers - and the dollars they might have spent - were sent home early because of rain. But this time around two days of blue skies and a gray but rainless Sunday kept the party hopping from its scheduled start to past its slated end.
``The committee this year had to put a lot of effort into saving the festival because we had a pretty tough year with funds,'' said Janet Thornhill, Harborfest chairwoman.
Money woes had made Harborfest's future murky. While no one was saying the annual riverfront party might be canned, there were real concerns about its future size and shape.
This year the festival made do with a budget of about $350,000. In past years, however, the budget had swelled to near $600,000.
The festival is dependent on fees paid by vendors and money provided by sponsors. No tax dollars are used.
``The city gives tremendous support and provides services and facilities,'' Thornhill said. ``We get to use the park, the police provide traffic control, there's the paramedical service. . . . We couldn't put on the festival without the city's help. But for programming the festival, we depend on the revenues from the previous year and sponsorship dollars raised in the current year.''
``We ran the festival this year on less money than in many years, probably going back to near the beginning'' in 1976, Thornhill said. ``That's why this year we came up with the theme `Team Harborfest - Making it Happen in '94,' '' for all those working on the event.
Thornhill believes the effort paid off. ``I think everyone is extremely proud of what we've done,'' she said. But she admits she had doubts at times.
Festival participants seemed pleased. Some even liked the smaller festival which, because of continuing downtown development, had to be pressed into a smaller area this year.
``It's been the best one yet for us,'' said Rickie Lawrence of Norfolk. ``You didn't have to walk as far, and with these little urchins,'' he said with a nod to his daughter and two sons, ``the less walking in a crowd the better.''
Lawrence said this was his fourth Harborfest and that he noticed nothing different in its quality.
Janice Mathews of Hampton said she was somewhat disappointed with the entertainment, however. ``The acts they have are OK, but couldn't they have gotten some real headliners?''
Some folks also complained about the cost of the riverfront's newest attraction.
Nauticus, which opened June 1, picked up some business from the festival. But there never appeared to be long lines. First-week attendance figures will be released Wednesday.
``Ten bucks a head is a little rich for me,'' said one man as he walked away from the ticket window at Nauticus. But others said it was worth the price.
``I hated it,'' said Marc Murray of Norfolk. ``There was too much to do and we couldn't pull the kids away and we ended up spending half the day in there. I wanted to be at Harborfest. But the kids are happy.''
{KEYWORDS} HARBORFEST
by CNB