Owing for Some Om'ing

As the second Santa Fe Yoga Festival's Aug. 6 opening ceremonies approach, teachers from the inaugural festival last year say they remain unpaid. A blog by Roseanne Harvey, of itsallyogababy.com, raises questions about the lingering frustration both with the accounting bottom line and with the feeling that the festival's organizers haven't been honest about what's going on with the money they're owed.

The festival's founder, Kurt Young, concedes that the festival, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for which he is the largest donor, has struggled to repay its debts and that the new business model adopted for the second festival is expected to pay off the remaining debts from the first festival. That's not an uncommon model, Young says.

The festival's organizers worked for free, according to Young, and he's personally put three years into making this festival a reality. This year, teachers have also been asked to donate their time, and the space is also a donation from the Scottish Rite Temple, Harvey reports.

In an email to SFR, Young says the people Harvey wrote about in her blog have all been paid.

"We have contacted and worked to pay everyone off. Unfortunately our funding is based on cycles. It is grants and donations that drive this cycle, and all of the money comes in right before the event," he writes. "Now, in the second year we are trying to mount with scarce resources again, but a lot of donated time and money and love."

Young did not immediately respond to a phone call for comment.

SFR was among those to whom he owed money until shortly after the blog went live July 10, at which point Young phoned the paper to discourage pursuit of the story, concerned that the publicity will hurt this year's festival and the effort to use it to pay back 2014's teachers. He paid for 2014 advertisements days later.

Teachers say they've waited months, hearing a perpetual "the check is in the mail" line. The check never arrives. One teacher, who gave an interview to SFR but asked to remain anonymous, says the line from Young has been that yoga is about love and giving and should be for everyone, and to that, she responds, "Then why is he charging for the festival? Why should he make money when no one else does?"

A 2015 festival pass costs up to $300.

"What bothers me the most is being lied to and being taken advantage of," the teacher adds, pointing out that not only has the bill for classes gone unpaid, but traveling from out of state incurred its own set of expenses, for which there was no compensation. When word of Harvey's blog started circulating, Young called and gave a credit card number, the teacher says, but it ran through as invalid.

"We got conned. That's really how I feel," the teacher says. "They made promises and broke them and continue to lie."

"We are all donating time and energy to help create something magical. We have not received one dime of city, county, state or federal money. It has all been donated man hours," Young's email reads. He contends the Chamber of Commerce says the festival made millions for the city last year. "I was the largest financial donor, but it seems like the more I give, the more is taken."

Santa Fe Reporter