THIS year’s Flame Tree Arts Festival was postponed until further notice, not canceled, Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Mary Margaret “Maggie” Santos Sablan said in a media conference at the Office of the Governor on Friday.
“DCCA has not completely canceled the event,” she added.
She said due to the “challenges” faced by the CNMI government, DCCA is “exploring…other options…[and] working with partners.”
She said they are “trying to see if the business sector would step up and help us out.”
Sablan said the Flame Tree Arts Festival may still happen later this year.
She said the decision to “postpone” the festival was a difficult one to make because she herself is a musical artist.
But upon review, she said they have determined that they still owe last year’s festival vendors $25,000.
Sablan said they do not want to incur a larger deficit.
For their part, registered vendors earlier told Variety that they received a call from DCCA informing them about the cancelation of the festival this year, and that they could collect their refund.
But Sablan on Friday said there was no refund process in place because the prior announcement they made regarding vendor registration remains in effect.
The registration for the festival “remains open,” she added.
Meanwhile, an audio recording of a phone call made by DCCA to a vendor has been circulating online:
“I’m calling because we’re canceling Flame Tree,” a DCCA employee said.
“Oh, yeah?” the vendor said.
“Yes, we are, and I was wondering if you can swing by and pick up your payment.”
“OK, why, what happened?”
“Not enough funding.”
