PASADENA : City Officials, Festival Vendors Discuss Settlements

Acknowledging that attendance has been dismally low at the city’s homespun soccer festival, Pasadena officials met individually with festival vendors Wednesday to talk about possible monetary settlements.

But after the meetings, city officials said they are not prepared to pay anywhere near the money that the 20 or so vendors were asking--$20,000 to $80,000 each.

The sums the city might be willing to pay will be “pretty low and lower than some individuals want,” said Bob Hays, a deputy city attorney. He said the city will respond to the requests Friday.

Pasadena created its own festival, called Soccer Carnaval, after World Cup USA ’94 placed its coveted Soccerfest in Los Angeles. Carnaval, a joint venture with Pasadena Productions Inc. at Brookside Park near the Rose Bowl, got no corporate sponsors and World Cup forbade it to open on game days.

Vendors paid up to $7,000 for booths, but say their losses are much higher because they paid for stock and labor, expecting the event to be open on game days.