With just days before Midfest is supposed to happen, organizers were still scrambling Wednesday to untangle a mess and meet city requirements for the special events permit.

Three days gives enough time to win a permit for the festival being billed as Midfest Summer Celebration in Marshall Park.

But after being stung by criticism over its handling of a large Cinco de Mayo event, the city warned organizers Wednesday there's still a chance the event won't happen Saturday and Sunday, said the city and organizers.

"The event cannot go on until the permit is issued," said Hindolo Brima, spokesperson for the city's parks and recreation department. "Since this is the next major event after Cinco de Mayo, we're trying to make sure the community knows we are working on the application and making sure we scrutinize it to make sure it's in line with what our regulations are."

Part of the problem is reportedly due to the way some special events organizers have worked behind the scenes to make events happen and, particularly in Midfest's case, a lack of coordination and communication among organizers, according to several people.

One organizer -- Midtown Business Association (MBA) -- also started pulling its Midfest flyers down Wednesday because of those problems, said MBA Operations Manager Aja Uranga-Foster.

"What it comes down to is, certain people who are involved in the event development process.... have been holding their cards a little close. It hasn't been a collaborative process," she said.

Organizers initially promoted this weekend's festivities as "Midfest," organized by the Midtown Business Association and T & M Organization for the Arts.

A wrench was thrown into the process because Saturday's permit applicant, Lomeli Events, broke the day's activities into two: Midfest from noon to 4 p.m. and the Bloc Concert Series from 4 to 8 p.m. Lomeli, a special events coordination company, was hired by the Gifts to Share Marshall Park Fountain Fund Committee to run all of Saturday's events, including a beer garden raising money for the fountain.

MBA got involved organizing Sunday's events with T & M Organization for the Arts to help kick off a last-Saturday summer concert series. The concerts are sponsored in part by "The Bloc" -- the J Street bars and restaurants facing Marshall Park, said Uranga-Foster.

The fountain fund committee, working through Lomeli Events, is organizing the concert series to raise money for the fountain, said Randy Paragary of the Paragary Restaurant Group.

Another problem occurred because Lomeli Events applied for an events permit to cover more than one event. The city is now asking them to submit one application for each event, Brima said. MBA won't be involved with the concert series, said Uranga-Foster.

By Wednesday morning, organizers had not yet provided a site map for the event to show locations of such things as stages, Brima said. Organizers were working to turn that in Wednesday afternoon.

After a Cinco de Mayo street party was held next to Marshall Park, several neighborhood associations voiced their complaints to city staff and Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn's staff.

The city acknowledged making mistakes with Cinco de Mayo, and neighbors asked the city to hold off on approving loud events anywhere until developing a policy to determine if each event's scale, crowd size and noise is appropriate for the proposed venue, said resident Vito Sgromo, past president of Marshall School/New Era Park Neighborhood Association and a board member since 1991.

Organizers need to follow city regulations for events and the special events permit application process, he said.

"It's arrogant to think they can circumvent the city and the city process," Sgromo said.

Neighbors say "regional" events that are expected to draw people from the entire city and even surrounding areas should be held in large regional parks like McKinley and Southside, rather than a small local park like Marshall, said Dale Kooyman, a member of Marshall School neighborhood association and Midtown resident for 33 years.

The Bloc Concert Series is expected to draw up to 2,550 people each Saturday for an event that would be set up throughout the park, according to the application. Sunday's application included a request for a live roller derby exhibition, but Sacred City Derby Girls said a live demo won't take place.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.