St Paul’s Carnival returns for 2023

St Paul’s Carnival will go ahead this year, organisers have announced.

After a three-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, the carnival will return this summer to the streets of St Paul’s.

From its early beginnings in 1968, the carnival has since seen thousands of people flock to the streets on the first weekend of July in an annual celebration of African and Caribbean culture.

This year’s theme will be Learning from Legends, a nod to Bristol’s African Caribbean community following the passing on August 3 last year of Bristol Bus Boycott activist and carnival forefather, Roy Hackett MBE.

2023 marks 60 years since Bristol’s Bus Boycott when Roy Hackett spearheaded a month’s long boycott of the Bristol Omnibus Company challenging its systemic racial discrimination in recruitment.

This year is also particularly poignant as it sees the 75th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain on June 22, 1948.

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Read more: ‘Roy Hackett gave me and many others the strength and inspiration to tackle racism’
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The historic event will be marked by a series of traditional fringe events from June 22 in the run up to the 1 July and on the carnival day itself.

This year, organisers are keen to make sure the community’s elders will be able to enjoy the carnival, after the last couple of years had to be majorly scaled back due to pandemic restrictions.

Learning from Legends is therefore also a nod to the elders in the community that have been lost due to the pandemic, but also to those that brought the carnival to St Paul’s in the first instance.

“Through the pandemic we delivered brunch to our elders every carnival over the last two years,” said LaToyah McAllister-Joneshe, executive director of St Pauls Carnival.

“This connection is very strong in St Paul’s Carnival. During 2020 the whole world had gone online and I was really conscious that many of our elders weren’t able to take part in that.”

LaToyah stands in front of Portland Square, where some of the biggest carnival celebrations take place – photo: Mia Vines Booth

“This is so much about intergenerational conversation and the legacy of Carnival. There’s a golden thread from the Caribbean to the UK, and to the next generation of carnavilistas. So for us it’s really important that [elders] are at the heart of what we do.”

This year will also be the first St Paul’s Carnival for chair Levi Roots, who was appointed in 2021. Commenting on the plans, the musician and food writer said: “I am really excited about seeing Carnival back in full technicolour on the streets of Bristol.

“While we have continued our work in the last few years through smaller scale events, I am looking forward to seeing Carnival come to life under the Learning from Legends theme to mark such an historic year in so many ways.”

While spirits are high for this year’s carnival, organisers still need to raise significant funds and are asking for sponsors and supporters to help ensure this year’s carnival can go ahead.

Main photo: St Paul’s Carnival

Read next:

• Gas Girls in special collaboration with St Paul’s Carnival
• Missing St Paul’s Carnival? Watch the carnival film online instead
• Levi Roots named as new chair of St Paul’s Carnival

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