Low Turnout at Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Main Event : Pop Music: Promoter Michael Scafuto’s three-day program is likely to come up short financially. But he says he’ll bring it back next year.

Despite the promoter’s prediction of 30,000 people a day at the three-day Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Main Event at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino County, only about 3,000 were on hand Sunday morning to see Bobby Freeman open the second day of music.

Set against a stunning spread of mountain peaks and chaparral-lined ridges, Freeman climbed onto the massive 35x180-foot stage and hammered out a 30-minute set of oldies before the small but enthusiastic crowd.

Not since the much ballyhooed, debt-plagued US Festivals in the early ‘80s has a promoter attempted to stage such a huge event at Glen Helen. The three-day festival was conceived and produced by Montclair nightclub owner Michael Scafuto.

Given the even smaller crowd Saturday, the festival--without a dramatic surge in attendance late Sunday or today--may end up, like the US Festivals, another financial disappointment.

Police and medical teams hovered on the perimeters of the park both days but reported few incidents through midday Sunday. A carnival erected on the northwest corner of the grounds remained deserted, as did the clusters of souvenir and food booths perched along the edge of the festival.

Despite the poor attendance, Scafuto, who said he has invested about $2 million in the Labor Day weekend affair, vowed Saturday to return next year with another major festival.

“People said we’d never make it to the gate (with a big festival), but we showed them we could. We’re here like we said we’d be,” he said backstage. “This is just the beginning. We’ll be back.”

The poor turnout didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of those who came out to picnic on the parched grass in front of the stage on Saturday, as an odd assortment of psychedelic pop figures from the ‘60s, such as the Grass Roots, the Turtles and Eric Burdon, traded off half-hour sets with current R&B; dance stars such as Stacey Q and Expose.

“Where else are you going to see the Grass Roots and the Turtles in one afternoon?” asked Rich Rothenbach, who lives in San Bernardino. “It’s an excellent festival and we’re having a great time.”

Between sets, radio and TV personality Casey Kasem worked the sparse crowd with a camera crew, taping video spots scheduled to be broadcast today to more than 200 stations nationwide during the annual Muscular Dystrophy telethon.

“Everybody I’ve talked with out here is having a fantastic time,” Kasem said between camera takes. “Besides, the event is for such a wonderful cause.”

The promoter has pledged a minimum of $100,000 or 10% of the profits to the Muscular Dystrophy Assn., according to a spokesman for the charity.

Other acts scheduled to perform on Sunday included Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, the Isley Brothers and En Vogue. Today’s concert, which is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., features a folk and country-oriented roster including Tanya Tucker, Don McLean, Eddie Rabbitt and Barbara Mandrell.

“It’s a real shame,” Deputy Dale Gregory of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said Saturday, estimating the crowd at about 2,000.

“The music is so good and the crowd is so mellow. I guess just about everybody had expected a much bigger turnout than this.”

Some vendors blamed the festival’s low draw on lack of promotion. Other vendors criticized the show’s roster, questioning the eccentric pairing of “oldies” rock entertainers and current dance artists in the line-up.

Terrie Dunne, a Santa Monica resident attending the event, attributed the turnout to the heat, which medical personnel said reached the low 90s both days.

“I think the hot weather might have scared people away,” Dunne said. “But we’re not the least bit disappointed. We just came out to have some fun and help the charity.”

In the weeks leading up to the festival, Scafuto and San Bernardino County officials engaged in a public debate over costs and production of the event. Scafuto complained that San Bernadino officials had consistently inflated the price of security and emergency service permit fees as the event proceeded.

County officials maintained that the fees were based on Scafuto’s original attendance projections of 60,000 per day in June, 1989--an estimate dropped last week to half that figure.

On Aug. 27, Scafuto accused San Bernardino officials of attempting to undermine his event by renting the festival grounds to a second promoter--in violation of his contract with the county, he said--for last weekend’s KLRD-FM Superfest concert. This meant Scafuto could not get his construction crew into the park in time to get the site ready for his show without paying what he described as huge overtime costs.