With temperatures hovering at 48 degrees late Sunday afternoon, WorldJam 2000 attendance at Sawyer Point was well below organizers' expectations for the second year in a row.

        At least 30,000 people were expected at the free event, but only 7,000 to 8,000 showed up, said Robert Elias, executive director of Cincinnati Arts Festival Inc., a nonprofit organization which produced WorldJam.

        Mr. Elias was still upbeat.

        “Things happen when one produces outdoor events like this,” he said. “I'm still de lighted that the community came out to enjoy it.”

        The culprit of the first WorldJam concert last year was rain. The event will be under its projected revenue, Mr. Elias said, declining to say how much.

        He said he was sorry, though, that thousands of area residents missed the exotic food, ethnic booths and eclectic world sounds from the performers.

        Not everybody missed out.

        Tim Matthews, 23, of Hyde Park kept warm by eating spicy jambalaya as he watched Angelique Kidjo, a Benin-born Afro-pop star, perform at the Procter & Gamble Pavilion Stage.

        In between concerts, Mr. Matthews generated heat of his own by playing an African drum at the drumbeat village.

        “I came out because I heard a lot of music was going on — and you can't beat that,” he said.

        A couple of hundred others watching the concerts midafternoon sported heavy coats, mittens, hats and blankets.

        Sheila DeForrest of Newport, who had been without heat in her apartment because of a water main break under the Newport shopping center Thursday, said the cold didn't bother her at all.

        “I don't feel any difference,” she said. “And, I'm a die-hard music fan.”

        Larry Nager review

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