After a run of 26 years, the Cascade Festival of Music has folded.
The festival’s board of directors announced today that “it will suspend all operations, effective immediately” because of crippling debts. The 2008 concert series, scheduled to have taken place in late August, has been canceled and all administrative staff has been laid off, the board announced.
The festival revealed in September 2007 that it had outstanding debts of about $190,000 and launched a fundraising campaign “in an attempt to resolve the situation,” the board’s announcement said, but the effort fell short because of “the downturn in the local economy and its negative effect on securing corporate sponsorships and major individual contributions.”
In an attempt to save money, the festival announced in March that it would hold the 2008 concert series indoors at Bend High School instead of in the giant tent in Drake Park where concerts had taken place since 1987 – a move that would have saved about $90,000. But apparently it wasn’t enough.
The CFM board voted June 21 “to suspend operations to avoid incurring further debt,” the announcement said. There was no immediate word on whether advance ticket purchasers for this season would have their money refunded.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2008.
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A sad day indeed.
This news is very sad. According to The Bulletin this morning, ticket sales have been doing okay but the festival hasn’t gotten the level of support it needs from corporate sponsors and individual contributors. It could be there are just too many worthy causes chasing a finite amount of money in this community.
Duncan McGeary’s take on it:
“At least one of the reasons that Cascade Music Festival might have had problems is that it went from being one of 4 or 5 major events in Bend per year, to one of dozens. Once upon a time, the Cascade Festival was a very big event in a very small town.”
I think he has a point. Back when CFM started there was, like, NOTHING else going on. Now it seems we have two or three “festivals” every week in the summer. Overkill, maybe? How many “festivals” can you go to in three months before you get all festivaled out?
I think it’s bigger than that.
Arts organizations have historically struggled in this country. The folding of yet another arts non-profit, even in an “affluent” part of the world, is not a shock when arts programs in public schools across the country have been bled dry over the last 15 years. It’s a pity for all who made even part of their living from it, but it’s no surprise that the festival folded. The arts is tough way to make a living in any era. In a time when we’re fighting an expensive war overseas and paying over 4 bucks a gallon for gas at home, when people in all walks of life are losing homes and jobs in more traditional fields, should any of us be surprised at seeing an entire music festival close its doors? I’m not, and I’m grateful that I have job skills that will only grow more valuable when the gas-powered economy really goes to hell.
Bend only thought it was affluent, Truth being it is all a show. There is a little money there, but really just a huge group of residents who flocked there thinking they were going to get rich in Real Estate, see where that got them! exit stage left
Yes, I would guess the builders, banks, and realtors felt flush, and felt the CMF would help sell houses. Since it appears that nothing will help sell houses, their plug has been pulled. They’ll probably restart in 5-10 years when things turn around.
CFM was dead as soon as they put walls on the tents. Good riddance.
The Cascade Festival of Music will be missed tremendously. It was food for the soul and I looked forward to it each year. Hopefully it won’t be gone long.