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Sunset Junction festival in jeopardy -- again

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The Sunset Junction festival has a long and troubled history, even in the days when it snagged top-line bookings from the likes of X, Beck, Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney.

In 2008, squabbling between neighborhood businesses and festival organizers reached such an acrimonious pitch that a representative from City Councilman Eric Garcetti’s office was brought in to help reach a compromise over points of contention, such as the festival’s shifting footprint and pricey tickets.

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Perhaps most of all, the fighting seemed like an inevitable byproduct of a changing festival identity, from a tight-knit community fete started in 1980 to a major commercial affair.

Now, with the 31st annual event slated for Aug. 27 and 28, Sunset Junction once again finds itself embroiled in a dispute, but this time organizers are wrangling with the city of Los Angeles over an unpaid bill. According to Kate Linthicum’s L.A. Times report, ‘officials say organizers owe Los Angeles more than $267,000 in event fees from last year’s fair, and are threatening to withhold the required permits until the festival pays up... if no resolution is reached at a meeting Wednesday between officials and organizers, Silver Lake may be without its signature festival for the first time in 31 years.’

RELATED:

2008: Malfunction at the Junction?

2009: Sunset Junction, what’s your dysfunction?

2011: Sunset Junction festival stages, set times revealed

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-- Margaret Wappler

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