Bristol’s St. Paul’s Carnival, which has been running since 1968, is set to be scaled back for 2026 due to what organisers say is due to public safety concerns and “an unacceptable level of operational and financial risk.”
In a statement, the carnival said it has explored several revised delivery models in order to deliver the festival at full-scale for 2026, but that “despite considerable work to reduce costs and reshape the model, as a board we have ultimately reached the conclusion that delivering a full-scale Carnival in 2026 is not viable.”
The free-to-attend celebration of African-Caribbean culture, music and community, attracts around 150,000 annually.
The festival said it has worked with Bristol City Council, Avon and Somerset Police and partners to deliver its full event safely, but that “the [festival] organisation has concluded that it is not possible to safely and sustainably deliver Carnival at the scale and size the public, participants and the wider community have come to expect.”
Despite the decision, the board for St. Paul’s Carnival said that it “remains committed to delivering a programme of community and cultural activity throughout 2026” through Mas Camps workshops, schools programmes and more. A ‘Carnival Lab’ is also in development, which the festival says will be a programme designed to support local people to play a greater role in the future delivery of St. Paul’s Carnival.
