ComFest might be finished. So, what happened?

Comfest used to function as a self-supporting ecosystem to help local organizations raise money and social/political/economic awareness.

RAFFLE TICKETS:

ComFest supplied organizations with raffle tickets. That way, even if an organization didn't have its own fundraising gimmick, it could still make money.

ComFest visitors bought raffle tickets at organization booths.

Raffle prizes were donated by local businesses and by festival artists and craftspeople. That was part of the artist booth fee. The rest was $25 to set up + 10% of gross sales.

VOLUNTEERS:

Volunteers were supplied by the organizations in lieu of a booth fee.

Volunteers received a tee shirt and tokens redeemable for beer and food at ComFest.

LIVE MUSIC AND BEER:

Beer sales funded the event itself. The live music and beer drew people to the event itself.

POLICE:

The city required hiring at least a few police to be on duty. The Columbus police who worked ComFest were part of POER (police officers for equal rights), an organization of mainly black officers addressing racism within the police force itself.

Because ComFest provided its own volunteer security, a minimum of outside police were needed.

SECURITY:

Volunteers from organizations who signed up to do security were required to attend sessions for instruction in non-combative, non-confrontational crowd management focused on diffusing potential conflicts.

The amazing thing about ComFest was that it demonstrated that this crazy leftist ideal of collective participation in a community really works, without corporate sponsors, without government funding. A working model set up every years for a few days. Like a model railroad display in a store window during Christmas. You could see it, you could do it, and go home with souvenir tee shirt on Sunday night.

A few years ago, ComFest was making enough money to start giving it away by the thousands. So, what happened?

Everyone may have their own opinion, but I think in general, there has been uneven development; A symbiotic ecosystem in which the needs of one organism became disproportionately larger. The emphasis on entertainment became dominant.

I don't think this explanation requires assigning blame anywhere. It's a perfectly natural development because any ecosystem relies on a primary energy source (for example, our Sun).

This is what led to both ComFest making money as well as creating the conditions requiring it to spend more.

Whether ComFest is facing financial extinction or not is still not entirely certain. What is very certain is that many of its original organizers are now gone, the rest are in their 70s and 80s.

ComFest may be hip, but it's time for a hip replacement. A new generation needs to be running ComFest or it will cease.

In order to do this, ComFest must reinvent itself on a manageable scale, once again emphasizing support for organizations engaged in social, political, and economic change. If this isn't a time in history to be doing that, then I don't know when it ever will be.