Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jul 2000
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2000 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190
Fax: (408) 271-3792
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: Eric R. Drudis, CANCELED S.J. RAVE MOVES TO FRESNO

County Banned All-Night Dances; Promoters Say New Event Will Draw 80,000

The all-night dance parties that Santa Clara County kicked out of its
fairgrounds are moving to Fresno -- and event promoters, upset about last
week's sudden cancellation of ``raves'' here on July 1 and July 22, have
promised to bus people from San Jose to ``bigger and better'' 80,000-person
parties in the Central Valley.

Undeterred by a reputation of violence and drug use at raves -- both of
which surfaced at a June 18 event sponsored by promoter Coolworld.com at the
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds -- officials in Fresno say they welcome the
events, which have been promoted heavily on MTV, the national cable music
channel.

``We're in the big-event business, and this event is typical of what we
do,'' said Scott Anderson, CEO of the Fresno Fairgrounds. ``If any company
can bring us fun, safe events, it's Coolworld.''

Anderson said the Fresno Fairgrounds is taking ``proactive'' steps to ensure
safety at what he's calling a ``dance and music festival, not a rave,''
working with police, paramedics and other city and county officials.

In the days after the June 18 rave in San Jose, Santa Clara County
supervisors protested the use of the publicly owned fairgrounds for what
Supervisor Pete McHugh termed `dangerous'' and ``unhealthy'' parties. On
June 30, the county pulled the plug on all events associated with Coolworld
- -- less than 24 hours before an all-night party was set to begin.

A letter to Coolworld from the county counsel's office also canceled a
heavily-hyped July 22 ``Cyberfest,'' which MTV had promised to cover. That
party, complete with overnight camping, now will take place at the Fresno
Fairgrounds.

According to Coolworld, the fairgrounds in Fresno are twice the size of the
Santa Clara Fairgrounds, which means promoters can sell 60,000 more tickets
than they had planned to sell for the event in San Jose. MTV still plans to
cover the event, and ABC-TV's ``20/20'' might profile the event, billed the
largest in the West, according to a Coolworld spokesman.

``We're looking forward to putting up this high-quality event,'' said Marco
Traversa, Coolworld's vice president of operations and marketing.
``Everything will still be the same except that it's moved to a different
location.''

Traversa said Coolworld liked the idea of hosting the party in San Jose, but
that the ``political climate forced us to move this event.'' He said
Coolworld plans to charter buses to ferry ravers from San Jose and other
locations to Fresno and back.

Though a number of people warned Fresno about possible violence, officials
there said they are prepared to work with Coolworld to prevent any problems.

Anderson said other cities may not have been prepared for a festival this
large -- and violence that erupted after the June 18 party in San Jose was
not surprising considering the heavy attendance. That party ended with two
stabbings, eight arrests and numerous drug overdoses.

``Everyone needs to consider that when you have major attendance, you're
going to have some incidents, be it a Lakers game or whatever,'' Anderson
said. ``You're cramming a city into a small place. There are going to be
some incidents; that's the reality of life.''

Fresno police are planning to send 124 uniformed officers whose salaries
will be reimbursed by Coolworld. The police department also will send an
unspecified number of undercover officers. By contrast, there were 20
sheriff's deputies on hand at the June 18 rave in San Jose, which drew more
than 20,000 people.

``We are erring on the side of safety because this is an unknown for us,''
said Lt. Robert Navarez, operations commander in the Fresno Police
Department for the area that includes the Fresno Fairgrounds. ``We are
working with Coolworld to dissuade people from bringing drugs on the
grounds, and if someone happens to be there with drugs, we will deal with
them.''

Raves have become increasingly popular among teens and young adults during
the past 20 years, moving from top-secret, underground garages to the
heavily-attended music festivals that were held at the fairgrounds until
recently. They feature bands or DJs pumping loud, mechanized dance music
from state-of-the-art sound systems.

Devotees say the events are clean fun, that no alcohol is sold, and that
``real'' ravers don't take drugs. Detractors say the events often are soaked
in hallucinogenic drugs including Ecstasy and GHB -- if not inside then just
outside the gates -- and that adolescents often aren't aware they have been
slipped a chemical in a water bottle or snack until it's too late.

After deputies confiscated a pharmacy of illegal drugs while breaking up the
June 18 rave, Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, whose district
includes the fairgrounds, led the charge to ban such parties here. She vowed
never again to let raves spoil what is supposed to be a ``family
atmosphere'' at the fairgrounds. Like Santa Clara County, the cities of San
Francisco and Oakland also have banned large, all-night raves.

Alvarado and McHugh were on vacation and could not be reached for comment
Friday, but Pete Kutras, assistant to the county executive, said the county
had deemed parties ``bad public policy.''

``We were informed by law enforcement that a certain amount of drug use was
inevitable,'' Kutras said, ``and that the level of neighborhood disruption
was a real problem.''

He said he had no advice for Fresno officials on how to safely run such a
party.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED Anyone with a ticket to the July 1 ``Quest'' party,
which was canceled by Santa Clara County Fairgrounds officials, can get a
refund or exchange it for a ticket to the July 22 ``Cyberfest'' in Fresno by
visiting the business where the ticket was purchased. Also contact record
stores for charter bus passes, available at extra cost. More information is
available by calling (415) 273-5912.
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