Carnivalists and community groups were dismayed to learn that Oxford’s Cowley Road Carnival, scheduled for 9 July, has been cancelled. This is the second post-Covid cancellation, as it also failed to appear in 2022.
Organiser Cowley Road Works (CRW) has been unable to raise enough money to put on the event. It issued a statement on 2 June saying that council contractor Oxford Direct Services’ estimated bill for the road closure had risen by 177%, CRW’s application to Arts Council England for a £29,000 grant had been turned down and Oxford City Council had cut its funding from £25,000 to £7,000. A crowdfunding attempt to raise £20,000 only generated £2,329.
The total cost of the carnival, which was expected to “bring together 1,000 artists and 700 procession participants” was £130,000, according to a report in the Oxford Mail.
In its statement, CRW said “we extend our deepest apologies for the disappointment and inconvenience caused by this unfortunate turn of events”.
The disappointment being felt by many of those who had planned to take part covers more than just the loss of an enjoyable day out. Many had committed to Cowley Road Carnival 2023 financially and are unlikely to be able to recover their money. One band from London had paid £1,000 for transport, sponsors have been left out of pocket and schools will have a hard time explaining to children why they cannot parade in the costumes they had spent so much time making.
Although Oxford, like all councils, is facing budgetary pressures of its own, the funding cut seems surprising in view of the revenue the carnival generates. Crowds of 50,000 are drawn in from a wide area, including London and Birmingham, whose spending provides a huge boost to the city’s economy. Over the years, the carnival has played a major role in turning around the fortunes of the once shabby Cowley Road and deprived parts of east Oxford.
CRW chair Aidan Larkin admitted that funding may have been affected “because we have not hosted a carnival for four years so they [funders] may have thought it was not going to happen”.
The council’s member for inclusive communities, Cllr Ajaz Rehman, said in a Twitter post: “We’re very sad to hear that Cowley Road Carnival won’t be taking place this year.” He defended the council’s decision and blamed the organisers for not pursuing other funding options: “We have provided a three-year grant to the organisers Cowley Road Works, which continues till 2025, and we’ve been working with them since early this year to try to support their funding needs to organise Carnival 2023.”
Cllr Rehman claimed that CRW had not tried to apply for up to £15,000 from OCC’s small and medium grants nor had it opted to have a park-based event that would have avoided the need to pay Direct Services’ £31,000 road closure charges.
Quoted in the Oxford Mail, an Arts Council spokesman said that it had invested £281,886 in Cowley Road Carnival between 2016 and 2020 and now needed to direct its resources elsewhere.
In CRW’s statement on 2 June, trustee and community champion Amir said: “Our focus will now shift to exploring sustainable funding options, strengthening partnerships and regrouping for the future. Nevertheless, the collapse of this year’s event leaves serious questions hanging over the future of Cowley Road Carnival and its new management team.
