Trying to get a successful music festival off the ground is guaranteed to stress the founders. South by Southwest and Lilith Fair are incredible success stories, but Snugglefest was a fully implemented disaster. Bogus Slogan, always looking for new revenue streams, hooked into Snugglefest from the beginning. Based on the original founder's promises, Bogus Slogan had fellow band friends, The Fragging Dolls and SpiffyKick sign up as headliners for the Friday and Saturday programs. Each cut their usual appearance fee by 60% to help get the show into profitability.
The disaster began to bloom when in August, a month before the festival, legal notice from the state of Virginia was received in the management offices of all three bands, indicating that the construction, entertainment, controlled beverages and public assembly permits that were applied for had been denied. The next day, a similar letter from the city arrived. When a Federal notice of Non-Compliance came, everyone thought the gig was dead.
Phone calls to the founders became a massive double talk conspiracy. Everyone was told that "adjustments" had been made and all the permits were issued. Calls to the various government agencies to confirm typically ended with the bureaucrat saying "We don't care." And then hanging up the phone.
Bogus Slogan never got to play the Hard Chine Tavern. Six hours after the festival's "start," the founders were located at Norfolk International Airport with first class tickets to Valparaiso, Chile. After serving 3 years for fraud, the promoters disappeared into the heart of Europe.
Bogus Slogan Poster #37 - Inside View
