THE RIGHT NOTES—Trombonist Alex Reyes, 15, plays with the Adolfo Camarillo High School jazz band at the Camarillo Arts & Jazz Festival along Ventura Boulevard in Old Town Sept. 25. The high school musicians were a few of the many artists who played music during the daylong event that culminated in a concert by saxophonist Mindi Abair and guitarist Peter White. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspaper Ticket sales to the fifth annual Camarillo Art and Jazz Festival concert Sept. 25 in Old Town Camarillo were up compared to 2009, despite several competing events and what appeared to be a smaller turnout at this year’s show.

Roy Villa, one of the festival’s organizers, said a $15 drop in ticket price could be the reason why approximately 100 additional tickets were sold.

Earlier this week, Villa said estimates placed the number of concert tickets sold at 750, compared with about 630 in 2009. Ticket prices this year were $25 in advance, $30 at the gate. Last year they cost $40.

“I thought it went off real well,” Villa said. Saturday’s festivities in Old Town Camarillo began with a farmers market and continued throughout the day with vendors and an art walk along Ventura Boulevard. There were also live band performances on three outdoor stages.

The day culminated with an evening under the stars concert by Blue Moon Swamp, a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band, and headliners guitarist Peter White and saxophonist Mindi Abair.

This year organizers added an afternoon wine tasting at the Pleasant Valley Outdoor Performance Center, a former elementary school campus where the concert took place.

Other events last Saturday included a pair of concerts in Ventura, a benefit tennis tournament at Camarillo’s Spanish Hills Country Club and an Oktoberfest celebration at the Camarillo Airport.

But despite the increase in ticket sales, some concertgoers said they noticed a drop in attendance .

Thousand Oaks residents Alan and Rita Kavanagh, who’ve attended the art and jazz festival every year since it began in 2006, said they thought the crowd Saturday night was thin compared to previous festivals.

“Maybe it’s the recession,” Rita Kavanagh said.

One woman sitting near the Kavanaghs said she thought this year’s following might be down because organizers stated on tickets that concertgoers could not bring in their own food and drink.

There were also fewer vendors at the concert. Last year, a variety of vendors had booths on the concert grounds, but there were only two vendors on Saturday.

Camarillo resident Donna Sandlin said her experience last year as a vendor convinced her not to sell her wares at this year’s festival. She said there wasn’t enough foot traffic along Ventura Boulevard and she was embarrassed by the lack of enthusiasm in the concert audience.

“It’s the first time since David Sanborn that I did not choose to do the show,” said Sandlin, a silkclothing artist and creator of a skin care line. Sandlin sold her goods instead at a Ventura fashion show. “How sad is that . . . since this is my town.”

David Sanborn performed at the first art and jazz festival in 2006.

Old Town restaurateur Brian Donley, owner of JJ Brewsky’s, said business was good Saturday at his Ventura Boulevard eatery.

Donley said he doesn’t know the exact number of customers he had, but waiters served almost 500 tables. A usual Saturday yields 380 tables, he said.

“I think it was a success. . . . It certainly helped our business,” Donley said.

Villa said that although ticket sales for lawn seating were up, fewer VIP tickets of $1,000 were sold this year—11 compared with 16 in 2009. The festival also lost sponsors, one of which had donated $25,000 in 2008 and 2009.

Sponsors brought in $70,000 in ‘08 and ‘09. The early sponsorship figures for this year are about $50,000, Villa said.

Proceeds from the art and jazz festival are donated to music and art programs in Camarillo schools. Organizers donated $13,000 last year and $15,000 the year before, Villa said.

Villa said he had no preliminary estimates for how much money the festival made. The total number of ticket sales, the fees paid by artists to display their work, and the proceeds from the wine tasting aren’t yet known.

“We will show a profit, it’s just a matter of how much,” Villa said

The money will be split among the Pleasant Valley, Somis Union and Mesa Union school districts, University charter schools, the Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education and parent teacher groups at schools.

The festival organizing committee, made up of about a dozen volunteers, cut back on radio and print advertising this year, opting instead to spread the word through e-mails and online social networking sites.

“It seemed to work,” Villa said. “For now, we’re going to kind of lean on that a little bit and see how it goes next year.”

Organizers also balked at regional radio advertising this year and restricted overall publicity Ventura County.

Villa promoted the festival on a Ventura radio talk show and in newspaper. He said the advertising in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties last year didn’t yield enough concertgoers to make continued advertising worthwhile.

“I think we just got lost in the shuffle, and people didn’t notice us,” Villa said of last year’s concert.

Villa said the organizing committee should have the final figures in about a month on how much the festival raised. The committee will then evaluate the event to determine if any changes should be made next year, he said.

He said the festival is still relatively new and building a following, and doesn’t think it’s in danger of being canceled next year this year’s tallies are disappointing.

The festival benefits Old Town businesses by giving them exposure, Villa said. The annual art and jazz event also fits in with the city’s vision of Old Town as a cultural epicenter.