Decision on Swanage Carnival 2021 hangs in the balance

By Helen ffitch 20 March 2021, 5:00 am

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The Swanage Carnival committee has posted an update on whether the event will be able to go ahead this year and detailed a number of problems that need to be resolved.

The carnival is provisionally pencilled in to take place from Saturday 31st July to Saturday 7th August 2021.

The Red Arrow Display Team always draw a large crowd when they take part in the Swanage Carnival

“Significant impact on the viability of our event”

The Swanage Carnival organisers said:

“We know lots of people are waiting to know if Carnival will go ahead in 2021. Currently, what requirements or restrictions we may need to meet for holding Carnival or any event after 21st June is not yet clear.

“The government has an Events Research Programme which reports during the roadmap timescale and this will guide decisions not only for Carnival but all larger scale events. We will be following this guidance.

“As Swanage Carnival is open to all, if there are any social distancing requirements that remain in place, or if there are limitations on the number of people who can attend events, this will have a significant impact on the viability of our event.”

Social distancing would be difficult at the Masquerade Night in Prince Albert Gardens during carnival week

“We may not receive any of our usual sponsorship”

Not only does the uncertainty surrounding the Covid guidelines for large events this summer make the decision agonisingly difficult for the organisers but also there is an understandable reluctance to hold the carnival this year, if it doesn’t make financial sense.

The committee added:

“Also, due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic we are conscious that we may not receive any of our usual sponsorship and therefore financing our event this year may be very difficult.

“Please be assured that the Carnival Committee is continuing to plan for the Carnival as we would love our event to go ahead, but at this time we are not able to confirm that Carnival 2021 will proceed.”