Arts promoter Mitchell Kriegman could not have picked a worse time to schedule this year’s PuppetPalooza puppet fest if he tried. The day his festival was scheduled to start, March 1, mass evacuations were ordered from Goleta to Carpinteria in anticipation of mudslides and debris flows triggered by heavy rains. It would be Santa Barbara’s fourth major evacuation since the Thomas Fire erupted December 4. Making matters worse, temperatures tanked.
The kids and families Kriegman hoped to attract may not have stayed away in droves, but attendance was significantly less than projected. Kriegman had to discount ticket prices — giving some seats away for free — to get what crowds he got. The festival may have been an artistic success, Kriegman said, but it was a financial nightmare.
Ten days after the festival finished, Kriegman sent out an SOS to those holding IOUs. He offered vendors and creditors 25 cents on every dollar he owed them. So far, some have accepted, some have said no, and others are still mulling over their options. No one, to date, has sued.