SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Just days away from possible cancellation, Sydney’s indebted Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras appears to have been saved by private citizens who agreed Saturday to guarantee a 250,000 Australian dollar ($140,000) bank loan.
The celebration has become one of the city’s most lucrative cultural events. An economic impact survey showed that the 1998 parade generated about 60 million Australian dollars (U.S. $34 million) for Sydney businesses as tourists flooded the city.
But the event was pushed into debt after a 30 percent drop in visitors last year, blamed on the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Organizers have also faced a 300 percent leap in insurance premiums and a drop in numbers at the annual fund-raising party.
Mardi Gras chief executive officer Kelly Gardiner said a meeting on Saturday attracted 300 people of whom seven volunteered to guarantee the festival’s bank overdraft. A suitable guarantor would be chosen at a meeting on Sunday by the festival’s board.
However, she said the Mardi Gras was not out of the woods, as the ANZ Bank still had to accept a suitable guarantor on Monday
“It’s too early to be relieved yet,” she said.
If the bank did not accept a guarantor, the carnival would be forced into administration – where independent professionals are appointed to strip the company and repay creditors.
“Hopefully by this time next week we’ll be back in business,” she said.
