FESTIVALS

Festival Funding: The first major grant toward the 1993 Los Angeles Festival--$300,000 from Taiwan-based shipping company Evergreen International Corp.--was announced Tuesday by Mayor Tom Bradley. Board chair Maureen Kindel called the grant “a building block” for the 1993 event and said it “allows us to continue to pay our bills for the 1990 festival and go forward on planning for 1993.” Kindel added that the Persian Gulf War brought added urgency to the 1993 festival, which will focus on the arts of the Middle East and Africa, by showing how little Americans know about that region’s cultures. Financial statements are not expected to be released for the financially troubled 1990 festival--which had a budget of about $5 million--until at least April.