COUNTY CANCELS DANCE PARTY

Fairgrounds: 'Raves' Probably Ended; Promoter Vows To Continue Events.

Santa Clara County Fairgrounds officials have canceled a "rave"
dance party scheduled for tonight -- and a letter from the county
counsel's office terminating all dealings with the promoter probably
means there will never be another all-night rave at the
fairgrounds.

The developments came two weeks after another such party erupted into
a melee that ended with two stabbings, eight arrests and numerous drug
overdoses. In the days following, county supervisors decried the
violence and said the publicly owned fairgrounds were no place for
such events.

The fairgrounds joins the cities of Oakland and San Francisco, which
also have banned large-scale raves. Smaller events still are held in
private clubs.

The fairgrounds had hoped to work out a set of ground rules with
Alameda-based Coolworld.com Inc., the promoter of the June 18 party
and tonight's canceled event, before allowing another rave, said
Arthur Troyer, executive director of the Fairgrounds Management Corp.

But the letter drafted by Deputy County Counsel William Anderson and
sent to the promoter and county supervisors late Friday effectively
cancels the contract with Coolworld for tonight's rave and for all
future events. The notice states that "the all-night events you
propose threaten the use of illegal drugs by large crowds that will
predictably include thousands of juveniles."

"We believe that the clearly predictable level of the use of illegal
drugs at these events constitutes a serious threat to public health
and safety," the notice continues. Such a threat, it said, "is
wholly unacceptable, especially at the publicly owned
Fairgrounds."

Marco Travrsa, Coolworld's vice president of operations and marketing,
hadn't seen the letter until it was faxed to him by the Mercury News.
As late as Friday afternoon, Coolworld was maintaining that tonight's
event was "postponed," not canceled, that an event scheduled for
July 22 would go on as planned, and that tonight's ticket-holders
could use their passes at the event three weeks from tonight.

After seeing the letter, Travrsa insisted that contracts with the
county were valid. The parties his company has produced have been
safe, he said, and he called the county's actions a "smoke screen"
for discrimination against "young people getting together and dancing."

He maintained that raves were less dangerous than other large events
and vowed to put on the July 22 show, if not at the fairgrounds, then
elsewhere. He advised current ticket-holders and other patrons to
watch the Coolworld.com Web site for future events and for more
information.

Before Friday's termination letter went out, the fairgrounds
management proposed rules for future raves would have limited
attendance to those 18 and older and imposed a 2 a.m. curfew. Sources
within the rave-promotion industry said age limits and curfews would
dampen enthusiasm for Northern California raves, which are among the
largest in the country because they run all night and are open to all
ages.

Raves, which have been popular among teens and young adults in
different forms for at least 20 years, typically are held at night in
cavernous, indoor spaces. The events feature bands or DJs and
state-of-the-art sound systems pumping loud, mechanized dance music.

Devotees say the events are clean fun, that no alcohol is sold, and
that "real" ravers don't take drugs. Detractors say the events often
are soaked in hallucinogenic drugs including Ecstasy and GHB -- if not
inside then just outside the gates -- and that adolescents often
aren't aware they have been slipped a chemical in a water bottle or
snack until it's too late.

The rave flap reached the highest levels of county government last
week. The ruckus drew outrage from Santa Clara County Supervisors
Blanca Alvarado -- whose district includes the Tully Road fairgrounds
in San Jose -- and Pete McHugh.

Alvarado vowed to block such parties from returning to the fairgrounds
and said the reputation for drug abuse at raves conflicted with the
fairgrounds' "family atmosphere."

McHugh called for a report by the county executive and sheriff and
recommendations for preventing such problems from arising again.

"I am definitely not unhappy that that has happened," McHugh said.
"It's more than an attractive nuisance when you have a lot of young
people out all night. Typically, there are drugs at these events. It's
an unhealthy situation, and I don't think it's an appropriate use of a
county facility."

As of Thursday, record stores had sold more than 11,000 non-refundable
$30 tickets for tonight's event.