Due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the annual Beach Bash will not return to the sands of Hermosa Beach this year or in future years to come, according to city officials.

This year would have marked the sixth annual Beach Bash, an event free to the public that has always been sponsored mostly by Mervyn’s and Target.

“Mervyn’s and Target have determined that we’re not going to continue as the title sponsor for Beach Bash in 2004, but both stores remain committed to partnering with community programs there in Southern California,” said Leanne Furman, a public relations spokesperson for Mervyn’s. “We’ve got some other additional things we are partnering like the L.A. Book Festival in April. We are not sponsoring Beach Bash 2004 and I don’t believe that a similar event is planned in Hermosa this coming summer.”

The three-day affair highlighted extreme sports competitions where top skateboarders, in-line skaters and bikers defied gravity for throngs of spectators. Organizers erected and then dismantled enormous structures on the beach such as the “Soul Bowl,” a large wooden structure resembling an empty swimming pool, and stadium seating.

The promotional company IMG conceived the idea and presented its proposal to the city of Hermosa Beach after procuring sponsorship from Mervyn’s and Target.

Many locals who attended the event considered it a family-oriented event that catered to Hermosa Beach kids who had first crack at the constructed street courses. Children from other areas also had the opportunity to use the street courses, along with attending free public demonstrations, clinics and autograph-signing sessions. However, other residents disliked the event, claiming it caused unwanted traffic and parking problems in the city.

“From what I understand, it was a business decision and if there was not enough economic reason for the sponsors to continue supporting the event, then I certainly understand,” said City Councilman Art Yoon. “What I always loved about the event was that it celebrated life at the beach and I don’t think that simply by the loss of the Beach Bash is that element going to be gone. We’ll just have to find different ways to appropriately celebrate life at the beach and I think that way may be through the Hermosa Beach Open or just the way we do it every day here at the beach, and that’s ‘just hanging.'”

Over the years, many residents also complained about the setup and tear-down time which, including event days, spanned between 12 and 17 days. In the past, the event featured live music. In 2001, IMG paid the city about $86,000 to host the event on the beach with an estimated $46,000 in city fees. The remaining $40,000 served as a donation for various charity causes around town. In 2002, IMG agreed to the same amount.

“Mervyn’s has changed its promotional strategy and so forth, so the net result is they weren’t going to do it and that’s why the AVP is doing its own thing since they used to be a part of the event,” said City Manager Steve Burrell. “Apparently, that’s pretty common for these promotional things; they move on to some other aspect of marketing their company.”

The invite-only extreme sports competitions featured some of the best pro athletes in the field, many of whom are Global X-Games champions. Last year, skateboarders, BMX riders and in-line skaters competed for $25,000, $20,000 and $5,000, respectively.

Last year’s event took place from June 6 to June 8, just north of the city’s pier on the sand. Slated in conjunction with the Beach Bash was the Hermosa Beach AVP Open where professional volleyball players and amateur teams competed for the title and a purse that last year totaled $150,000 ($75,000 earmarked for both the women’s and men’s contests). This year’s AVP event is slated for July 22 to 25.

The Beach Bash served as a venue for the Hermosa Beach Open, which is one of the oldest volleyball competitions, dating back to the 1970s.

“We love the city of Hermosa Beach; they’ve been a really great partner of ours for many years,” added Furman. “The Beach Bash was a fun family-focused event and if opportunities like that come in the future I’m sure we’d definitely take a look at them. We think that both companies are so tied to the community in terms of literacy in that we both have a corporatewide reading initiative so something like the L.A. Book Festival was a really good fit, so we are focusing on that effort this year.”

At the February Parks and Recreation meeting, IMG proposed another event known as the GQ Beach Games, a similar event to the Beach Bash but on a much smaller scale. The two-day event was to combine professional and celebrity beach volleyball games and sports clinics with live music and interactive activities. The commission did approve the event that never made it to the City Council level due to what Burrell believes to be a lack in sponsorship.

“The event was withdrawn by the time they got to the council,” said Burrell. “It was supposed to be on the same weekend, but we think the sponsorship package didn’t materialize.”

Approval for the July AVP volleyball tournament is up for City Council approval next week.