PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce board has voted to no longer run the annual Jazz in the Olympics Festival.
Unless another organization takes over sponsorship, the 2011 event will be canceled.
The chamber has run the festival for three years after taking over from a private Jazz in the Olympics committee, which had run it previously.
This year’s event in April was the 11th for the festival, and like last year and the year before saw a decline in attendance and sponsorships, said Russ Veenema, chamber executive director, in an announcement at today’s chamber membership luncheon at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
“We had between an 8 and 10 percent decline in attendance,” he said, “and there are things that are out of our control.
“We have to pay for the bands and their lodging and travel, and those costs could skyrocket.
“If that were to happen and still did not have the attendance to make up for it, we could be in the red very fast. We are not in a position that we can financially do that.”
If another group wanted to take over the festival, Veenema said the chamber would assist by giving advice and information.
“But we simply cannot help financially,” he said.
He said the 2010 festival did make a little money — a couple thousand dollars — but only because the decline in attendance and sponsorships was planned for.
