Country Music’s Fanfest ’95 Going for More With Less

This weekend’s Fanfest country music celebration will be shorter, smaller and more affordable than last year’s less-than-picture-perfect debut.

The inaugural “was artistically successful enough to warrant us doing it again,” said Fanfest Inc. President Bob Alexander, “but we made a lot of mistakes the first year.”

About 110 singers will perform Friday through Sunday at Fanfest ’95 at the Fairplex in Pomona. Scheduled headliners include John Anderson, Diamond Rio, Doug Kershaw, Chris LeDoux, Martina McBride, Tracy Lawrence, Boy Howdy and Little Texas.

Musically, last year’s four-day jamboree won praise from participating artists, visitors and critics, Alexander said. But only 20,000 tickets were sold--less than half the 50,000 hoped for--and Fanfest Inc. lost $1.5 million. Long delays between performances, long lines for stars’ autographs and the $30 ticket price drew criticism.

This year, single-day tickets cost $17, and the event runs through the weekend instead of Wednesday through Saturday.

Size-wise, Fanfest ’95 will be condensed. Its main stage will be closer to the vast fairground’s entrance and to 400 event vendors, karaoke, cowboy poetry, line dancing and hayrides.

Some 50 fewer singers will appear, but most will perform for 30-45 minutes, at least 10 minutes longer than last year. (A “New Faces” stage will feature some 70 emerging acts.) Little can be done about tardy singers (all unpaid) who delay scheduling, Alexander said. Waiting hours for autographs comes with the territory, but organizers plan to announce how long fans will have to stand in line, he said.

Even though Fanfest Inc. has signed five-year contracts with Fairplex and the Hollywood-based Academy of Country Music, which sanctions the event, many feel it’s still unproven.

“We felt from the very beginning this was a three-to-five-year building process,” Alexander said, “but the industry as a whole takes a wait-and-see attitude, especially the major stars.”

* Fanfest ’95 runs Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., at Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona. Tickets: $17 per day, $45 for three days, available at Wherehouse Entertainment stores or at the gate for $20 and $50. Information: (310) 358-0900.