Carnival comes together for a day of learning at the National Carnival Conference 2014
Over 120 carnivalists came to the UK Centre for Carnival Arts last week (Friday, 7th November) for the National Carnival Conference.
The day served as an opportunity for the carnival community to come together and talk about the opportunities and challenges the sector faces. Presentations were delivered on the economic value of carnival, how to make carnival experiences unique, how to realise the potential of carnival artists and the current funding position.
Throughout the day there was also a number of seminars and panel discussions which allowed everyone to voice their opinion on the current state of UK carnival.
Representatives from Arts Council England also attended the event and delivered a number of one-to-one surgeries, while there were also performances and entertainment from Rampage and Rhythms of the City.
Clary Salandy, Associate Artistic Director at the UK Centre for Carnival Arts, said: “Our conference was a very informative day with interesting ideas for making Carnival sustainable and for establishing a unified voice for the sector.
“The conference enabled artists to share their achievements and aspirations and it reinforced the importance of Carnival as an access route to the Arts as a career for creative people both young and old. It was fantastic to see so many delegates from a wide cross section of the Carnival community.
“It was particularly important for the sector to know about the New funds becoming available through Arts Council England, how to access them and other possibilities for partnership funding. The sector needs to establish strong partnerships in order to attract the resources it needs to grow. With guest speakers from Denmark, France and Germany the conference offered a great opportunity for delegates to make links with European carnivals. We need more days like this.”
For more information about the National Carnival Conference and UK carnival, please visit www.carnivalarts.org.uk