Thank you for your support
That’s it for another year, we’d like to thank everyone who came out to support one of the official St Pauls Carnival events, bought t-shirts or donated. By doing so, you’ve supported and helped bring Carnival back officially to the streets for 2026.
We understand how disappointed people were that we weren’t able to bring back St Paul's Carnival to the streets officially this year. We were too. We saw how the community brought Carnival back into the streets unofficially this year and we loved seeing the community ‘do it yourself’ spirit that is such an embodiment of the wider city itself.
A huge part of our job is to ensure we deliver a safe Carnival and that all safety aspects are in place for carnival day. The costs of doing this have escalated massively over the last few years and it now costs over half a million pounds just to run an official Carnival day safely.
This year, it became clear we would not be able to raise the funds needed to hold a full Carnival without incurring debt. So, we moved to our Back a Yard celebration of Carnival, celebrating the spirit of St Pauls Carnival across a series of events.
We welcomed over 80 elders to our Elders Brunch celebrating those that came before and who have helped Carnival throughout the years. Celebrating their legacy and remembering those we have lost. We also celebrated our community and education programme that educates in schools about St Pauls Carnival, its history and cultural importance through our free family friendly community event hosted at Circomedia. We were also able to donate a small amount to help Docklands celebrate their community event supporting another important local charity. Children who attend schools who are a part of our popular education programme performed at our community celebration and elders brunch, showcasing drumming and dancing skills they have learnt as a part of the programme.
For the dutty winers we hosted three parties across Lakota, Circomedia and Lost Horizon, celebrating sound systems, music of the diaspora and queer Carnival.
We teamed up with local venues Lakota, Ciromedia and Lost Horizons to provide heritage carnival sounds and up and coming local talent.
We’re already working on Carnival 2026 and are committed to working with the community to achieve the authentic, grassroots event the community wants. To ensure all regulations are met we also need to work closely with the council and the police.
We are committed to working with the city including the council, police and most importantly the community to bring back St Pauls Carnival officially to the streets of St Pauls. We can’t do it without you, we need the community and wider city to work with us to bring Carnival back officially to the streets. Watch this space and get in touch if you’d like to help.
We’d like to thank all our venue partners in 2026, Lakota, Circomedia and Lost Horizon as well as all the acts that played, thank you for making it so special. Our goal is a fun and safe Carnival for all that celebrates the roots, culture and community of St Pauls Carnival.