POULSBO — A tiff with the City of Poulsbo nearly two years ago and tough times fund-raising are blamed for a recent announcement that Viking Fest 2003 will likely not include fireworks.

This week, Viking Fest Corporation member Kathy Forsee told Poulsbo Community Services Committee members that fireworks were not included in this year’s Viking Fest lineup. She blamed the cancellation on a debt of $60,000 the non-profit still holds.

“We don’t feel this year that we can take the money that would be coming in from sponsorships and fund fireworks, rather than pay for our actual expenses and pay down our debt,” Forsee explained, later adding. “We’re not saying we’re not going to bring it back someday, but at this point we feel as a committee there are some things we need to pull and that’s a big chunk of money.”

Viking Fest Marketing Director Michael Svardh said that the $13,000 price tag to furnish the Norwegian Constitution Day event with big booms is a significant price to commit to, especially when major sponsors are hard to come by. He said if a sponsor came forward and specifically asked to fund the fireworks, Viking Fest Corp. would try to accommodate, but at this point there has been no such offer.

“We’d really love to (put on a fireworks show) but getting sponsorships has been a little tougher this year,” Svardh said.

“Due to the economy the amount sponsors are giving has dropped drastically,” added Viking Fest President Gary Jones, noting that Viking Fest only had fireworks for two of its 35 years. “We’re still going to put on a very good festival like we always do, just without the fireworks.”

Forsee said the debt, which is currently weighing down this year’s event, can at least partially be attributed to a failed Bryan White country western concert at the 2000 Viking Fest.

In early March 2000, Viking Fest organizers announced the sale of tickets to the Bryan White concert, which was to be held at North Kitsap High School on the last day of Viking Fest 2000.

However, Poulsbo City Council members immediately expressed concern that the corporation had not requested permission to hold the concert, which may have drawn an audience of about 6,000. The event had not been included on the approved line-up for the Viking Fest 2000 when it was approved by council in December of 1999.

Viking Fest Corporation members said they did not realize they needed the city council’s permission for an event to be held at the high school.

Poulsbo Police and North Kitsap School District officials also joined with the council, citing traffic, noise, parking, security and shuttles concerns.

The Viking Fest Corporation eventually addressed enough of the concerns to receive approval from the city council in a split 4 to 3 decision in early April 2000. But quickly after the concert, Viking Fest Corporation members admitted that they knew they’d lost money on the venture, which only drew about 400 concert-goers.

“We tried something and it didn’t work and we don’t want to put blame on anyone,” Jones commented on the incident. “But yes we do have a debt with our bank that we need to pay down, while still providing the event and scholarships. Scholarships are our main concern.”

Viking Fest 2003 will take place May 16-18 at the Poulsbo Waterfront. Sponsors are still being sought. For more information about sponsorships, contact Michael Svardh at marketing@vikingfest.org.