http://www.contracostatimes.com
By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
Posted: 04/23/2009
LONG BEACH -- The Cambodian Coordinating Council is hoping the year of the ox proves less complicated than the recently completed year of the rat.
On Saturday, the Cambodian community wraps up New Year festivities with its annual celebration at El Dorado Park.
Community organizers thought they smelled a rat last year when the cost for city services at the celebration and the related Cambodian New Year parade on Anaheim Avenue spiked 60 percent from $25,000 to $40,000.
David Ashman, manager of Special Events, explained that in past years the city and the office of former councilwoman Laura Richardson, had absorbed costs that it could not longer take on in the recent economic climate.
A plan has been set up for organizers to pay back a $40,000 shortfall to the city and pare down this year's bills.
"We're still not happy with the price," said Dan Durke, one of the event organizers, who said his group is still trying to get an exact accounting of past bills and devise a better way of tracking funds in the future.
At particular issue is a bill of more than $20,000 for police and park rangers for the celebration alone.
Sticker shock aside, organizers remain upbeat looking to the weekend. Although ticket sales for the event have been sluggish, history has showed that the celebration gets its biggest lift on the day of the event.
An inaugural red carpet after-party this year has drawn a fair amount of advance interest. That event will begin at 7 p.m. after the festivities at El Dorado Park end and will feature a fashion show of some of the work of local Cambodian designer Remy Hou, screening of the trailer for the award-winning film "Residue," about the CIA's involvement in Cambodia in 1970 and its tragic aftermath. There will also be dinner and live music.
Anthony Kim, an organizer, said more than 300 have showed interest and reservations are filling fast.
Organizers hope the El Dorado Park celebration will draw upwards of the 15,000 people who usually attend, although there is fear the downturn in the economy could dampen the numbers, particularly among those who travel from distant communities to attend and make a weekend of the celebration.
As usual the day will feature performances from an eclectic mix of artists ranging from local singers who perform regularly at Cambodian restaurants, to folklorico dancers, to Cambodian rapper Prach Ly.
There will also be traditional Cambodian New Year games and religious and cultural observances.
By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
Posted: 04/23/2009
LONG BEACH -- The Cambodian Coordinating Council is hoping the year of the ox proves less complicated than the recently completed year of the rat.
On Saturday, the Cambodian community wraps up New Year festivities with its annual celebration at El Dorado Park.
Community organizers thought they smelled a rat last year when the cost for city services at the celebration and the related Cambodian New Year parade on Anaheim Avenue spiked 60 percent from $25,000 to $40,000.
David Ashman, manager of Special Events, explained that in past years the city and the office of former councilwoman Laura Richardson, had absorbed costs that it could not longer take on in the recent economic climate.
A plan has been set up for organizers to pay back a $40,000 shortfall to the city and pare down this year's bills.
"We're still not happy with the price," said Dan Durke, one of the event organizers, who said his group is still trying to get an exact accounting of past bills and devise a better way of tracking funds in the future.
At particular issue is a bill of more than $20,000 for police and park rangers for the celebration alone.
Sticker shock aside, organizers remain upbeat looking to the weekend. Although ticket sales for the event have been sluggish, history has showed that the celebration gets its biggest lift on the day of the event.
An inaugural red carpet after-party this year has drawn a fair amount of advance interest. That event will begin at 7 p.m. after the festivities at El Dorado Park end and will feature a fashion show of some of the work of local Cambodian designer Remy Hou, screening of the trailer for the award-winning film "Residue," about the CIA's involvement in Cambodia in 1970 and its tragic aftermath. There will also be dinner and live music.
Anthony Kim, an organizer, said more than 300 have showed interest and reservations are filling fast.
Organizers hope the El Dorado Park celebration will draw upwards of the 15,000 people who usually attend, although there is fear the downturn in the economy could dampen the numbers, particularly among those who travel from distant communities to attend and make a weekend of the celebration.
As usual the day will feature performances from an eclectic mix of artists ranging from local singers who perform regularly at Cambodian restaurants, to folklorico dancers, to Cambodian rapper Prach Ly.
There will also be traditional Cambodian New Year games and religious and cultural observances.
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