A Minnesota food festival is facing some serious financial challenges as a group of creditors is forcing Taste of Minnesota into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Taste of Minnesota is a St. Paul-based festival that in the past has featured restaurant vendors, classic rock bands and fireworks shows in mid-summer. Now, the event’s web site account has been suspended and a number of local businesses are trying to recoup the money that Taste of Minnesota owes.

There are around a dozen creditors who are taking legal action in order to get Taste of Minnesota to pay them back. A local radio host and a restaurant, called Crave, are among those who are seeking compensation. Their efforts have forced the involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing for around $237,000 in unpaid fees for goods and services, according to the Pioneer Press.

Minnesota Bankruptcy lawyer Sam Stern is representing the group of creditors. They filed the bankruptcy petition against International Event Marketing LLC in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Stern and his group will seek to determine whether the business’ three owners are in fact personally liable for the money owed to contractors.

“We all came in as contractors,” local radio host Brian “B.T.” Turner told the Pioneer Press. Turner operated a tent with performances and kitchens where local chefs led cooking demonstrations.” Working to make a great event happen. And we did make a great event happen.”

According to Stern, it appears that the company that operates Taste of Minnesota doesn’t have any cash at its disposal to distribute to creditors.

“A lot of people got hurt,” said Stern. “To put on a big festival over the Fourth of July and not get paid, it’s like a retailer that doesn’t get Christmas. Our feeling is Taste of Minnesota owners knew back in April what was going to be required.”

According to the lawyer, the owners of Taste of Minnesota have three weeks to respond to the bankruptcy petition, and that it will be protected by the automatic stay from creditors and lawsuits.

Stern also said that the event management claimed to have had enough cash available to pay vendors for their goods and services no matter how many tickets or food they sold.

The festival featured a system in which patrons purchased tickets, and exchanged those tickets for food and beverages. Some vendors are saying that they were never reimbursed for those tickets by event planners.

However, International Event Marketing LLC is not required to show its accounts, but the creditors who have petitioned for a forced bankruptcy say they suspect the company owes in the area of one million dollars to vendors in total.

The owners sent a letter in October saying that they were out of money, and that they wouldn’t be paying off the debts that they owed, including those meant to go to the St. Paul parks department and the police department for overtime event staffing. The police costs were upwards of $87,000.

Craig Gass owns Gass Concessions. He was not happy about the situation. “I’ve got 35 employees, and all of my employees got paid by me,” Gass told the Pioneer Press. “In some worlds, that would be called stealing.”

International Event Marketing had purchased the event in 2009, hoping to raise its profile with more restaurants and bigger bands.

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