5:01pm | A vintage car show that had signed a five-year contract with the city has cancelled its upcoming August showing in Long Beach, citing financial issues stemming from a lack of entries and too few sponsors.
And, in an unexpected twist, it has been announced that Bruce Walter, the executive director and CEO of Hot August Nights, has resigned from the organization effective immediately. He submitted his letter of resignation Monday morning, car show officials said on Tuesday.
Word of the show’s cancelation began to spread Monday and was reported on by the Press-Telegram.
The show had been slated for Aug. 3 – 6 at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and was reportedly previously touted by officials as likely to draw as many as 250,000 spectators to the city and, over the duration of the contract, would generate as much as $372 million in the local economy.
Iris Himert, senior vice president of the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Center, told the PT that she first learned of the cancellation when she had met locally with officials from the car show’s organization Monday morning.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Chris Killian, president of the car show’s board of directors, told reporters at a Reno, Nev., press conference that cancelation of the Long Beach show had been under review by the board “for some time.”
“We have decided as a board to cancel the event,” Killian said. “We have made the determination that this is the best decision for the Hot August Nights organization both financially and for the longevity of the event in this (the Reno) community.”
Killian added that all participants who had already signed on to be a part of the Long Beach show will receive full refunds and are being encouraged to participate in the Reno/Sparks or South Lake Tahoe shows.
The Hot August Nights board president declined to share any specifics regarding Walter’s resignation.
Reno media outlets have reported that Hot August Nights has for months been embroiled in controversy and that the Long Beach show’s cancellation had been rumored to be the result of internal disorganization.
But car show officials have cited targets that were not being met as per a pro forma agreement that had been drafted as reason for its decision. With about three months left before the show, only 462 car entries out of the 6,000 or so that the organization was aiming for had been received as of today, Tuesday, May 3. Additionally, the show had thus far only generated about $89,000 in sponsorships, far short of the intended $650,000, they said.
Former Hot August Nights Executive Director and CEO Walter had said in October during a local event that more than 2,000 cars had already signed up for the Long Beach show, according to the PT.
Stacey Toda, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bob Foster’s office, released a statement Monday afternoon regarding the situation.
“Long Beach is a great place to hold an event and we’re certainly disappointed, but clearly within Hot August Nights there are some internal dynamics that need to be worked out,” Toda said.
According to the Reno Gazette Journal, many in Reno were unhappy about the organization’s efforts to expand to Southern California, fearing that it would detract from the annual Reno/Sparks show. The unpopular decision to expand reportedly “had left many feeling stunned and betrayed.”
The car show is celebrating its 25th anniversary in Reno, its birthplace and home base, this year.