Expect a lot more of this in the very near future. After reading the sidenote about the cancellation of the Portland Jazz Fest due to a lack of sponsors, you're going to be seeing a lot of events that planned their revenues based on 2006 figures suddenly discovering that they don't have the money eight months before the scheduled date. Public and private events aren't going to be spared, especially when the previously well-heeled sponsors start suffering their own recession pain.

Given the hundreds of thousands of people who watch this, and for whom it is an important family tradition, it is unbelievable that the money can't be raised. It may officially belong to the trust that operates it, but it is a traditional regional event that belongs to all of us.

I wondered why Vancouver's municipal government hadn't stepped up, until I noted on today's news that they just paid a million plus settlement to a former employee over a discrimination complaint.

If you don't know your local history, they used to do this every year in the 80's and 90's to scare up the cash. Expect it to return...