'Carnival could become a thing of the past'

Organisers want the whole city to get behind the carnival

St Pauls Carnival organisers have announced a timetable of activities for this year's scaled-down event.

And they have warned that if Bristol residents do not support the event, which will return in full in 2025, its future is at risk.

This year, events will run over a two-week period under the name of ‘Back-a-Yard’ gatherings - a traditional Jamaican phrase meaning 'back-at-home’.

"The future of free community events is under threat at the moment," executive director of the carnival, LaToyah McAllister-Jones, said. "Delivering a thing like carnival could be a thing of the past if people don’t get behind it.”

More than 120,000 people attended St Pauls Carnival in 2023

Last year’s event attracted more than 120,000 people to the city after a hiatus due to Covid.

But despite its success, organisers announced the carnival will be held every two years due to a “shift” in the funding landscape after the pandemic.

Ms McAllister-Jones continued: “[It] costs a hell of a lot of money.

“Last year it was somewhere in the region of £520,000. It is simply a huge task for an organisation of our size to turn that around every year.”

The money to fund the event comes from grant funding from organisations including the Arts Council and Bristol City Council.

Carnival organisers have to raise the rest of the money to keep it free to attend.

LaToyah McAllister-Jones says carnival could be a thing of the past unless the community 'rallies together'

“I think if we’re going to protect something like carnival, it has to be that anybody can come,” Ms McAllister-Jones added.

“Access to culture is really, really vital and it shouldn’t just be for people that can afford it.

“That’s why we’re campaigning for the city as a whole to put its arms around carnival. Every little helps, it might be a donation, or you could offer a skill."

Organisers have launched a new campaign called ‘It Takes a City.’

“You’ll see it in venues all around the city," Ms McAllister-Jones said. "It’s about encouraging people to support St Pauls Carnival because every little helps. Imagine if everyone who came to the event last year gave £2.”

Carnival is one of the biggest events to take place in Bristol

This year's two weeks of events will mark Windrush Day.

The HMT Windrush was one of the first ships to carry West Indian migrants to Great Britain during the post-war period to help the country rebuild, arriving in 1948.

On June 22, an event called ‘Sounds of Windrush Library’ will be held at Circomedia in St Paul's. It will explore the impact of the Windrush generation on the Bristol music scene, and be followed by a ‘Sounds of Windrush’ party.

Carnival day will be marked with an elders' brunch and community celebration at Malcolm X Centre, to celebrate carnival arts and African Caribbean culture.

A ‘Colston to Phoenix’ fashion show will be held at Montpelier High School on 5 July to fundraise for next year’s event.

“We want to bring some sort of carnival vibes to the city in that two-week period," Ms McAllister-Jones added.