The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
If you’re a UCLA student, there is a world-class music festival that takes place on your home campus every year and costs hundreds less than that Coachella ticket you’ve been eyeing. But that concert is facing a significant funding crisis that could not only dampen the event this year but challenge its sustainability in the future.
One week after the council decided (unanimously) to allocate $78,500 to various USAC initiatives, the majority going to the 28th JazzReggae Festival, it voted (once again unanimously)to return all the money.
Is this a doomsday scenario for the festival? Probably not. Will the loss of $40,000 in previously allocated funds hurt the festival and its attendees? Absolutely.
Common was one of the headlining artists at the JazzReggae Festival last year.
While $40,000 in surplus funding doesn’t seem like much considering the approximately $585,000 that it costs to put on the festival, it makes up almost half of the pre-festival funding CAC has available.
Pre-festival costs such as advertisements and transportation for the artists need to be taken care of before the influx of cash that comes with ticket sales. If students want artists on par with the likes of Lupe Fiasco and The Roots again, CAC is going to need some wiggle room.
USAC dug itself into a hole when it decided to give back all the funding it allocated for a popular and perennial student event. Now it has to find a way out.
One potential underwriter is the Associated Students of UCLA, USAC’s parent organization, which has supported the student government during crises in the past. In 2012, ASUCLA approved a $76,000 loan to safeguard student group funding after the surplus came in under expectations.
Similarly, ASUCLA could front the money for JazzReggae provided CAC agrees to pay back the sum once ticket sales come in. It’s up to USAC to ask for the $40,000 needed to make up for the loss of funding.
However, the festival should not rely on ASUCLA funding from year to year, in the same way it should not rely on surplus. JazzReggae can’t expect a last minute rescue every year. An ASUCLA loan isn’t a permanent solution by any stretch; it’s a bandage.
That said, to have a sustainable plan for the future, JazzReggae needs to be a hit. The higher the number of tickets sold, the higher the profit. With higher profits comes a lower dependence on unpredictable USAC surpluses. To guarantee a successful festival in the future, CAC needs to invest now in a successful event.
USAC needs to go all in on JazzReggae to pull a strong profit, which in turn will set a foundation for subsequent festivals.
The other option – to deal with the $40,000 hit by cutting costs – is not an acceptable one. Among the cuts being made to the festival, $20,000 will be cut by “reconstructing the line-up to limit artist costs,” say the festival organizers. That line item is an ominous one for eager concert-goers.
What’s more, in order to make up for the loss of funding, ticket prices could increase by several dollars, Jasmine Pierik, a third-year English student and executive producer of the festival told The Bruin last week.
Cultural Affairs Commissioner Jessica Trumble said that funding will be taken from other popular CAC events, such as Hip Hop Explosion, an event that brought Grammy-nominated artist A$AP Rocky to campus at no cost to students.
If the problem really is just funding, ASUCLA can solve the problem, at least for this year. If USAC surpluses are a safety net, then ASUCLA funding is a last resort.
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Correction: Jasmine Pierik told The Bruin last week that ticket prices for the JazzReggae festival could increase by several dollars this year.