The city of Atlanta's decision to boot major festivals from Piedmont Park because of Georgia's drought has left one event nearly penniless and another searching for its third home in less than a year.

On Thursday, organizers of the 73-year-old Atlanta Dogwood Festival announced they would not be able to use Lenox Square next spring, leaving them on the hunt for yet another site.

At the same time, the Atlanta Pride Committee confirmed its executive director and festival organizer had resigned after this year's festival took such a hit that the organization was nearly out of money.

Both organizations say their problems could be solved if they could work out an agreement to go back to Piedmont next year.

Diane Harnell Cohen, commissioner of the city's parks, recreation and cultural affairs department, will make a recommendation to the City Council in October.

Until then, she's not making any promises.

"There is nothing that says to me that the drought is leaving or that we are going to have enough water from irrigation that I couldn't say anything other than we have to look at his carefully," she said Thursday. "It would be irresponsible for me to say anything more than that."

In January, the city announced all Class A events -- those that attract more than 50,000 people -- were being moved out of Piedmont because of the stress they caused on the park's rain-starved lawn.

Dogwood organizers moved their event to the Lenox Square parking lot April 4-6, with disastrous results. Attendance was way down, patrons complained about the lack of trees -- there was an artificial dogwood in a VIP tent -- and the festival fell far short of revenue goals.

Executive Director Brian Hill said Lenox officials told him they had hoped the festival would provide them a bump in business, but that didn't happen. Fewer than 50,000 people attended, down from estimates of 150,000 to 200,000 in years past, partly because it rained most of the weekend, Hill said.

A letter from Lenox to Hill said it was a scheduling issue.

"Our schedule of activities simply does not allow us to participate next year," according to the July 25 letter from Dewayne Herbert, a Lenox marketing executive.

In the meantime, Dogwood officials are redoubling their efforts to get back to Piedmont next year. They are urging festival fans to sign an online petition (www.dogwood.org) and contact Atlanta City Council members.

"The people in Midtown, across the board, are saying it's the people's park and want large community events there," Hill said.

About 2,000 people had signed the petition by Thursday afternoon, Hill said.

Pride festival also hurt by move

Atlanta Pride, one of the country's largest gay-themed events, also took a big hit by moving out of the park. The organization had to pay an estimated $60,000 to $80,000 to rent the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, where the event was held over the Fourth of July weekend. In years past, Pride paid roughly $10,000 to $12,000 for permitting, clean-up and security at Piedmont Park.

Add to that, attendance that was down significantly this year, and the organization took a financial hit "in the six figures," Pride board chairwoman Deirdre Heffernan said. Like Hill, she would not provide specific dollar or attendance figures.

The weekend left the Atlanta Pride Committee with just enough money to operate with one staffer, down from four, Heffernan said.

Executive Director Donna Narducci resigned this week. Festival Director Jennifer Sheffield resigned last week, Heffernan said.

"We just looked at the books and decided it was time to make a change," Heffernan said, noting that both resignations were amicable. Pride's part-time book keeper Paul Gibson also resigned, leaving one staffer at the organization's office on Henderson Mill Road.

Heffernan insisted Atlanta Pride – in some form – will be back next year.

"What that will look like, how long it will last, where it will be remains to be seen," she said, noting that the organization has launched a fund-raising drive on its Web site (www.atlantapride.org).

Heffernan denied rumors in the gay community that Atlanta Pride was disbanding.

"We've been around for 38 years," she said. "We're not going to let a drought or a flood or any financial situation stop us."

—Staff writer Ken Sugiura contributed to this report.