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17
Jul 2024
Funding review spells end for Harrogate Carnival
Harrogate Carnival will not take place this year — and there are currently no plans to revive it in future.
The carnival first took place in 2019 when it was jointly organised by Harrogate Borough Council and the arts charity Harrogate International Festivals.
It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to carnival but returned in 2022 and 2023.
The free one-day event saw performers and food stalls descend on the town.
Last year’s event took place in July and began with a street parade through Harrogate town centre before heading to Valley Gardens, where there was music, dance, food, street theatre and craft workshops.
Harrogate Carnival
Nic Harne, corporate director for community development at North Yorkshire Council, which replaced Harrogate Borough Council last year, said:
The Harrogate Carnival was created and hosted by the former Harrogate Borough Council, in partnership with Harrogate International Festivals, as part of the celebrations linked to the UCI Road World Championships in 2019.
At the time it was intended to be a one-off event, but the decision was taken by the former council to run it again with Harrogate International Festivals in 2022 and 2023 to help the visitor economy to recover from the covid pandemic.
We have no plans to deliver the event in 2024.
Harrogate Carnival
Sharon Canavar chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals said:
The Harrogate Carnival was a fantastic, free to access cultural event for the town bringing a wide range of diverse artists to Harrogate attracting thousands to the event.
With the move to a unitary authority funding decisions are being reviewed across all cultural and tourism focussed events both in Harrogate and as part of a wider picture for North Yorkshire.
We hope that there will be opportunities to deliver work of this scale in the future and that events and cultural delivery is recognised in Harrogate and the wider county as a key driver for a number of social, wellbeing and economic benefits.
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