Watts Festival Canceled

The annual Watts Summer Festival, which was begun the year after the 1965 Watts Riot as a memorial to the 34 lives lost in the violence, will not be held this year because Los Angeles County officials have refused to provide a site for the event. Festival director Tommy Jacquette said plans to return the festival to Will Rogers Park, the original site of the event, were canceled after county officials refused to allow the event to be held there. Permission was denied because of complaints from area residents that the festival has been the scene of gang-related problems, said Morri Lubarsky, deputy director of the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department. He added that the county has also been unable to collect a $10,000 debt from festival organizers. Lubarsky said permission to hold the festival at the park will not be granted until the debt is paid.