Roots Festival coming to PSU next week

After efforts to make Grammy-winning band Ozomatli the headliner for Portland State’s first annual Roots Festival failed, the June 2 event will go forward with an estimated $26,000 less in costs by replacing Ozomatli with an interactive theater group, a panel discussion, performances and displays by local bands and artists.

The event, which will take place in the PSU Park Blocks and the Multicultural Center, is a celebration of cultural diversity and is sponsored by Student Activities and Leadership Programs (SALP), the Multicultural Center and 10 other student groups. With Ozomatli out of the festival, SALP Director Tonantzin Oceguera said the estimated current budget for the festival is $4,000, although it may grow.

The original plan was for $20,000 of the total $30,000 projected budget for the festival to go to Ozomatli, a big-name band that many believed would draw a large crowd. This would have required SALP to front the $20,000 to the band, with the student groups sponsoring the event left responsible for any remainder of the cost not recouped through ticket sales.

“The student groups were being asked to hodgepodge the money to cover the contract,” Oceguera said. “But we can’t guarantee a contract if the money isn’t there.”

After SALP realized the high cost of the festival would be too much for the school and student groups to provide, the verbal contract with Ozomatli was canceled, but the band felt they still deserved to play the event.

“They [the band’s management] told me, ‘The show is happening, you don’t have a choice,'” said Rudy Soto, chair of the Roots Festival committee and student group coordinator for the United Indian Students of Higher Education (UISHE). “They were saying that the verbal and the e-mails were legally binding, and basically threatened to sue.”

Soto originally formatted a letter to the band’s management earlier this year, offering the band the lead spot after the festival committee came to a consensus.

“We offered them a $20,000 flat fee, to cover the flight, everything,” Soto said. “They sent us contracts and said, ‘We are confirmed.'”

Soto knew he could not sign the contracts himself and passed them on to the University Business Affairs office, which found that the band was actually asking for more than the festival could offer them.

“They wanted the $20,000 fee and way more,” Soto said. “Food, travel expenses, lighting – costs for the show far exceeded $10,000.”

SALP was not comfortable signing the contract, so Soto went back to the band’s management to tell them about the problems.

“That could significantly impair the amount of resources available for student groups next year,” Oceguera said. “It would not have been responsible for us as stewards of student fees.”

The business affairs office, after examining the correspondence and interactions Soto had with the band, assured him that the contract was not legally binding because it was not signed.

Ozomatli’s manager, Amy Blackman, described the entire situation as “disappointing,” and said she had never had it happen before in negotiations of this type.

“In my view the communication was pretty standard, but apparently the offer was made before the funds were available,” Blackman said. “When someone tells us, ‘We would like to make a firm offer,’ we don’t stop to ask, ‘Do they actually have the money?'”

Blackman expressed regret on behalf of the band. “It was a really cool community event. It was about unity, it was open to the public, and we’re really sorry it’s not happening,” she said. “It’s really baffling to us.”

Soto said it was difficult at first moving on after the Ozomatli plan fell through, but now feels confident the festival can go on to a successful first run.

“The first meeting after, not many people showed up,” he said. “But then other people proposed we get some local bands to play instead. We all feel that this is very do-able. There’s a general sense of excitement.”

Associated Students of Portland State University Communications Director Jessica Lyness is excited about the event despite the change in attractions.

“We’ve had to change our focus,” she said. “We have four local bands. It’s still going to be a great event.”

Besides SALP and UISHE, a coalition of groups including the Chicano and Latino student group MEChA, the Queer Resource Center, KPSU radio, ASPSU, Las Mujeres and several others sponsor the all-day festival. UPN (Portland Channel 49) will be on hand to conduct an interview the day of the event.

“Being an end of the year event really solidifies the work people in the various groups have been doing all year,” Lyness said. “It’s the fruition of everything.”