Cincinnati City Council cast its net and hauled half of the Great Inland Seafood Fest back to Ohio shores for next year.

        In a motion co-sponsored by council members Jim Tarbell and Paul Booth, council voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a $10,000 decrease in rent for the festival, which moved to Newport in 2001 after being in Cincinnati for 14 years.

        Next year's festival will be on both sides of the river, at Riverboat Row in Newport and at Yeatman's Cove in Cincinnati.

        “It was born here and nurtured here, and it belongs here really,” Mr. Tarbell said. "To get half of it back is something. I'm kind of tickled to have something that we share.”

        The 2001 festival was held in Newport after festival organizers got an offer they couldn't refuse — free rent.

        “When the festival started 15 years ago, there was no rent, no fees for police,” said Marc Wertheim, festival chairman. “We started out not paying anything to the city of Cincinnati. As the event progressed, the fees increased.”

        Rent for the three-day festival, held at Sawyer Point, ranged between $9,000 and $13,000 annually, according to Mr. Wertheim. He said that in addition to the rent, the Cincinnati Recreation Commission made $13,000 in parking from the 2000 festival.

        Though Newport did not charge rent for the 2001 seafood festival, which 175,000 people attended, festival organizers did pay for all city services, such as police.

        Newport city manager Phil Ciafardini said the festival had a positive impact on the city, and that next year it would be good for Newport on the Levee businesses as well as those on Riverboat Row.

        Festival organizers are attempting to use Newport's L&N Pedestrian Bridge, scheduled to be reopened as a pedestrian bridge, to link the riverbanks.

        The 2002 Great Inland Seafood Festival, Aug. 9-11, will be the first multi-day event held on both banks of the river. It is expected to draw 250,000 people total for both banks.

        “If they believe that they can continue to make the event bigger and better and still be viable, we think that's great,” Mr. Ciafardini said.

        “We're looking forward to having the seafood fest in Newport for many years to come.”

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