Newport Beach Jazz Festival to get Irvine address

Robin Armstrong and Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- The city’s jazz lovers will have to drive a little

farther this year to attend the Newport Beach Jazz Festival.

Because of crammed conditions, noise complaints and a proposed rent

increase, the event is being relocated to Irvine’s Hidden Halley,

festival officials said Thursday.

The festival has been held at the Hyatt Newporter for the past seven

years.

The festival will take place from May 11 to 19, with several sessions

held at Irvine Spectrum restaurants on weekdays.

“I was getting desperate,” said festival director Jeff Robertson,

adding that he had to turn away 2,000 people at the gate last year.

“It was just getting to be so crowded,” he said.

The new site is at least three times bigger than the grounds at the

Hyatt, “which means that you can spread out your picnic blankets and not

be squished up next to your neighbor,” according to the festival’s Web

site.

While in past years many fans had to park off-site and use a shuttle

to get to the hotel, Hidden Valley’s 6,000 parking spaces should prevent

that.

Attempts to find alternative sites in the city failed, in part because

of noise concerns at other spots.

It was a proposed rent increase of 55% that was a decisive reason to

turn away from Newport Beach, Robertson said, adding that he did not want

to reveal the exact sum he had been paying.

After hotel officials presented him with the higher rates last

October, Robertson began looking and settled on Hidden Valley. When hotel

officials did not respond to a letter Robertson sent them regarding the

price increase, the festival director closed a deal with the Irvine site

in January. He added that he is paying less rent at Hidden Valley that he

had been at the Hyatt.

Hotel officials declined to comment Thursday.

As a result of the move, hotel officials also ended Robertson’s

involvement in the Hyatt Newporter Summer Jazz Series, Robertson said.

Those events will take place between June 15 and October 12.

Irvine’s Mayor Larry Agran said Thursday that he had not heard about

the move but was supportive.

“We always welcome cultural enterprises to the city,” he said.

In Newport Beach, conference and visitors bureau officials said there

was unfortunately little they could have done to keep the festival in

town.

“Our city doesn’t have as many venues as others in which this type of

event can take place,” said Peggy Fort, a consultant with the bureau, who

had talked with Robertson about his problems.

Visiting jazz fans hopefully will still drop by Newport Beach, Fort

said.

“I think that we could still get business from it,” Fort said. “It’s

not like it’s gone from the Hyatt Newporter to San Diego. It’s still

somewhat close and it will still have the Newport Beach name.”

But that might change in the future, Robertson said.

“We’ll probably end up dropping Newport Beach,” he said.