A budget reduced by $300,000, a nagging debt and the aftermath of Sept. 11 have sharply cut the scale of this year's Columbia Festival of the Arts.
"The number of performances is the main thing that's smaller," said Katherine Knowles, the festival's executive director.
"Last year, we had 24 performances, and this year there are 13. The second thing is that there are fewer international artists, and that's a direct result of Sept. 11," she said. "Getting visas has become a major issue."
(Last year, 14 international acts took the stage, Knowles said. This year, three will.)
"The festival may not have as many events," said Alton J. Scavo, a Rouse Co. executive who is president of the festival's board of directors, "but I think it's as talented and as rich a program as we've ever had."
During the next two weeks, well-known performers, among them the Flying Karamazov Brothers, a juggling comedy act, and Bobby McFerrin, will strut their stuff in Columbia, as will hip-hop dancers, classic rock musicians and stage actors.
The festival's organizers said fund raising was difficult after Sept. 11 because most companies were sending donations to service organizations rather than to arts groups - "understandably so," said Knowles. But festival staff managed to raise $900,000 for this year's celebration, or 25 percent less than the $1.2 million raised last year.
Two-thirds of it came from corporate sponsors, Knowles said, and the rest from fund raising and grants from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maryland State Arts Council.
The money covers performers' fees and staff salaries, and pays for space rental, marketing, and related odds and ends.
A move by organizers from free quarters at Columbia Association headquarters in March to office space they must rent also will deplete funds. (Overhead accounts for about 17 percent of the budget.) The staff outgrew the space, said Knowles and Scavo.
The festival has a year-round staff of four, including Knowles, which balloons to nearly 30 in the months before the festival, and a 23-member board of directors. More than 200 volunteers provide most of the muscle.
But with about half the number of acts that appeared last year, and 75 percent of that budget, festival coordinators are faring well.
"We wanted to not only break even this year," Scavo said, "but in effect pay back ourselves if all goes well."
The festival has lost money the past two years. And although no one claims it's in jeopardy, the focus this year has been on paying off that debt, which Knowles estimated was about $50,000.
They're set to do so, Scavo said, as long as they don't lose money this year. The reduced roster is part of the effort to keep that from happening, Knowles said.
"Next year, we should be right back where we were," she said, with many more acts and a more international flavor.
Seemingly missing from this year's festival are the traditionally free lakefront activities and the gala, but organizers say they are just hidden.
Lakefront events have been consolidated into today's free "Star-Spangled Celebration" at Merriweather Post Pavilion, during which the Army Field Band will perform.
Scavo said Merriweather was picked because attendance had outgrown lakefront facilities, and he wanted to provide cover in case of inclement weather.
And the traditional prefestival Friday night gala was held in February, said Scavo. Called Salsafest, it took place after hours at The Mall in Columbia.
"We're a festival in business 12 months of the year, but only visible to the community two weeks a year," Scavo said. "We wanted to get in front of the community at a time not actually associated with the event to raise awareness."
Scavo said feedback from last year suggested presenting fewer performances so more people would be able to make time to see more. He expects this year's lineup to please almost everyone, but is willing to make adjustments if it doesn't.
"Like everything else," he said, "we try things and see if they work or not."
Festival schedule: www. columbiafestival.com.