Bristol's St Pauls carnival future in doubt after funding withdrawn

The annual carnival, which is a celebration of the city's Afro-Caribbean culture, dates to the 1960s and normally takes place in July.

The future of Bristol's St Pauls carnival has been put into doubt after organisers have their funding pulled.

Bristol City Council and Arts Council England said it was withholding funds from St Pauls Afrikan Caribbean Carnival (SPACC) with immediate effect.

In a statement, the council said its funding criteria included a carnival but SPACC had failed to deliver one in 2015 and had no "clear plans" for 2016.

Cleo Lake, from SPACC, said she "cannot understand" the decision.

The annual carnival, which is a celebration of the city's Afro-Caribbean culture, dates back to the 1960s and is normally held in July.

It is one of the biggest of its kind in Europe, with tens of thousands of people attending in 2014.

But this year it was cancelled due to "unforeseen challenges and setbacks" which organisers had denied involved a lack of funds.

With the carnival due to mark its 50th anniversary in 2018, the city council and Arts Council said they did not have "sufficient confidence" the trustees could deliver and would be looking for a new organisation to run events.

'We're the community'

Phil Gibby, from Arts Council England, said: "We have a responsibility to ensure that public money is invested responsibly and that the community receives the benefit - in this case in the form of a great carnival.

"For that reason we are keeping our financial commitment to carnival in Bristol in place."

Bristol Mayor George Ferguson said he had asked for a meeting with the community to discuss "how we can ensure the future of the carnival" in the run up to 2018.

But Ms Lake, the festival organiser, said she "cannot understand" why they "are not working with us".

"Bristol City Council and Arts Council England seek to gain community support without us - when we are the community."