THOUSAND OAKS : Carnival Reports Small Revenue Rise

Attendance and total revenue from this year’s Conejo Valley Days carnival narrowly outpaced last year’s figures, Conejo Valley Days officials said Tuesday.

However, because organizers spent more money on the event this year, the fate of an $11,000 debt owed the city of Thousand Oaks remains unclear.

Organizers will not finish tallying expenditures from the event until June, said Linda Graham, who is in charge of finances for the carnival.

Over the course of the five-day event, 50,725 people attended the annual country and Western extravaganza at Conejo Creek Park. That is up slightly from 1993, when 50,645 attended the carnival.

This year’s total receipts from carnival rides was $209,735 and admissions sales totaled $172,265 for a total revenue of $382,000. In 1993, gross earnings from the rides was $195,185 and admissions sales were $105,739 for a total revenue of $300,924.

All the money spent on concessions and food went directly to the specific nonprofit groups that ran each booth.

“I definitely think we were successful,” said Jennifer Cummings, who was hired by the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce to organize the five-day carnival. “Our main focus was to make Conejo Valley Days profitable and leave a clean slate for next year.”

But Chamber Director Steve Rubenstein said it was too early to know for certain that this year’s carnival raised enough money to wipe clean the $11,000 debt to the city.

The debt arose two years ago, when event organizers were unable to pay $22,000 to the city for security and other expenses. The chamber paid half of the debt to the city after last year’s carnival.

“I really think it’s premature until we see how much we’ve spent,” he said. “All I know is that the community had a rip-roaring party that they really enjoyed.”