PASADENA : City Pays $19,366 to Vendors for Soccer Festival Losses

The city of Pasadena has paid out a total of $19,366 to 10 vendors who complained they lost thousands of dollars after renting booth space at the city’s Soccer Carnaval, a monthlong festival that coincided with the World Cup.

The vendors also were given the right to sell their goods--without paying a fee--at various events at the Rose Bowl in the next year, including UCLA football games, the flea market and the upcoming Eagles and Rolling Stones concerts, according to settlement documents.

The city planned the carnival after World Cup organizers placed their official celebration, Soccerfest, in Los Angeles. But World Cup officials used their clout to keep the Soccer Carnaval from operating on game days, when the big crowds came to the city. Attendance was so sparse that the carnival ride operator packed up and left on the second day.