‘Flame Tree Arts Festival is just postponed, not cancelled’

Mary Margaret Sablan

Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Mary Margaret Sablan clarified Friday that the annual Flame Tree Arts Festival is not being cancelled this year; it is merely postponed.

In a news briefing last Friday on Capital Hill to clarify the issue in response to a report that the festival is being cancelled (not in Saipan Tribune), Sablan that DCCA is not planning to completely cancel the event, but is at the moment postponing it.

She said she was surprised at the new report. “We never said it was canceled.”

Unfortunately, she said, “we’re in a really bad state. It’s just very difficult. We owe people from last year, we owe vendors, we don’t want to balloon the deficit more than it already is.

“This is just on the surface. We have a $25,000 deficit and that’s just for our Flame Tree. To run it would cost a whole lot more. A little over double that. …But you know, we can scale it a little bit. It’s going to require a lot a lot more sponsors, a lot more money, and our economy is just not strong enough right now. We have to build and what we have is very little and we have to prioritize.

“It’s been difficult. We all know the situation with the government and we do want to support our artists. It’s a time where they come out and showcase their artwork and that’s very important as they work so hard throughout the whole year,” she added.

Responding to a news release that the Flame Tree Arts Festival was to be cancelled, the

Sablan said the $25,000 deficit is just from last year’s festivities, and a chunk of that is owed vendors. She said she isn’t aware of any other deficits from previous years’ festivals.

Considering the payments that still need to be made, Sablan said the agency wants to be able to pay off vendors before deciding whether they have sufficient funds for another festival.

Holding the festival would require roughly $50,000, she said.

As an artist herself, Sablan said she finds it difficult to hold off an event like this, especially with so many people involved in the event, like partners, sponsors etc., but she said they do want to make sure an event like this happens in a year.

“We are still exploring. …We’re trying to see if some of our business sectors and private sectors would step up to the plate to help us out. There are other things that we’re exploring, so we’re not totally at a no. We hope to be able to still have it maybe toward the latter part of the year.

“I was talking to a friend of mine that July would be a good time because July is when the flame trees are blooming, but the fact of it is it really all depends on our funding.

“We would like to push it back and see how we can build up on that if we push it to July and maybe work with people like the mayor’s office, other partners, the private sector, to come out and help us with the big undertaking that it requires to make it happen,” said Sablan

When asked what will happen to those who are already registered in case the festival does get cancelled, Sablan replied, “Getting their money back is not difficult because their donations, their contribution and the fees have been safeguarded, so getting it back if it were to be canceled will not be a problem. But the fact of the matter is we’re not completely canceling it, it just doesn’t look like it’s going to be happening next month.”

When discussing the registration applicant’s deadline, Sablan said a decision will be made in the next couple of days on how long the arts festival is going to be pushed back. “And then we will send out the notice in publicize it as of the continuation of the registration.”

As of now, until further notice, registration will continue.