<<I just meant if you could fly them from LA to NY then Boston would cost the same that's all."
Okay, let's look into the cost of bringing in the actors to Boston from New York.
Most people who live in NYC do not own cars, and I know the NYC actors who attend the fests dont own one. So, they would have to have a car rented for them to travel to Boston. Now, unfortunately, in NYC most car rental places insist on a minmum of two days if you rent the car on weekend. Car rentals in NY run as much as $70 a day or more. Since the actors have different schedules, they would want to come up when they wanted. You figure they would have the car for at least four days and if you add taxes (which is 8% in NY) to the total, you are looking at about $400 an actor. This is about the price of airfare flying the LA based DS actors to the east whether it be Boston or NY.
If you want to avoid the car rental thing and send the actors up by Amtrak train service, unreserved seating starts at around $150 round trip and if you travel on a Friday it can go as high at $181.00 per person. So if each actor brings a spouse or friend along, you double the fare. Again, you are looking at costs similar to the airfare of bringing in the LA actors.
If you had the event in Newport, you are talking about skyrocket hotel prices. Newport is a wealthy area. I've stayed there on business and with friends, and we paid big bucks for a decent hotel. All the actors would have to be flown in to Providence, I believe, and then rent cars to be taken to Newport. Car rentals there might not be all that much cheaper because of the resort areas near Providence. The Amtrak schedule I looked at indicates there is no direct rail service to Newport.
The likelihood of getting reasonable accomodations during the summer months in Newport is slim to none. That is a big,wealthy resort area and a very popular one during the summer and early fall. The price for everything goes up.
The trouble with promoting a festival being held in Boston is that it is not centrally located on the east coast. New York is. It is easier to access for the people coming up from the south, and it has the added attraction of having Broadway and other key tourist attractions. Many fans take advantage of the discounted hotel price for the Festivals in New York by coming in with their families, attend some of the fest, and then going out to see shows and other tourist attractions. There are more tourist attractions in NYC. (I Happen to like Boston a lot but if I give my friends across the country a choice of where to spend their time, they tend to pick NYC). :-/ The actors too from LA would naturally prefer coming to NY and having access to the theater and those who were born and raised here visit family while in town for the festival.
The festivals in NY means no rental cars whatsoever for any of the actors, and no air fare for the four who do attend. Rental cars are expensive. The car insurance in New York is the highest in the nation (New Jersey is a close rival) which is one reason rentals are so high.
I understand why many people would like to see the festivals in a city nearer to them. It makes sense why they feel that way. Unfortunately, practicality and finances dictate the the most reasonable locations for the DS festivals are New York and Los Angeles.
However, as I have said, anyone can put on a convention if they want to have a go at it in their own area of preference. There is nothing to stop anyone from doing that.
Nancy