Carnival comes up £5k short

Organisers of St Paul's carnival have been left with a £5,000 deficit after this year's event.

The annual celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture costs about £220,000 to stage, and is regularly attended by tens of thousands of people.

But in the run up to last weekend's event, the carnival board were facing a £10,000 funding shortfall.

Collections taken at the event raised about half the amount needed, and organisers are still hopeful that further donations may plug the gap.

A board meeting was held to discuss the matter on Thursday evening.

Peninah Acheung, chair of the carnival board, said: "We raised £5,000 on the day, leaving a shortfall of £5,000.

"We have been accepting donations and the community is still sending money in, so we are hoping to bridge the gap. We have a three-year funding agreement that is secure.

"We always have between £50,000 and £60,000 and we will start fundraising for next year's event in September."

About £60,000 of the annual running costs are met by Bristol City Council, and about £60,000 more from the Arts Council.

But Ms Acheung said the Arts Council has made further funding available for next year.

The committee can apply for sustainability funding to cover any further shortfall for the 2010 carnival, though the amount has yet to be fixed.

Organisers have blamed the continuing economic downturn for this year's funding problems.

Ahead of the carnival, the 42nd in the event's history, a message on the website warned: "For the first time we are going to collect money from the public using buckets and floats. "So please give generously."