To the editor:

Today, I and several friends will be driving to Arkansas, to spend a long weekend (and quite a bit of money) at the Wakarusa Festival, now being held at Mulberry Mountain, outside Ozark, Ark.

In years past, many of my friends came from out of state, to Lawrence, for this event. They spent their hard-earned vacation dollars in our community. But sadly, our city, county and state leaders decided that the festival wasn’t worth fighting for.

Now, it is northwest Arkansas that will reap the economic benefits so cavalierly discarded by Kansas.

Festival organizers estimate that the event may pump up to $6 million into the region’s economy as participants and artists spend freely on travel and hotel rooms, and at area retailers including gas stations, liquor and grocery stores.

It’s too bad that our leaders couldn’t get over their bigoted thinking long enough to embrace the tax revenue and economic benefits that the festival offered. Given our community’s current economic state, I suspect that some are now wishing they had made a different choice.