A long-running carnival in Newport faces an uncertain future after its entire committee stepped down. Pill Carnival, which celebrates the culture of Pillgwenlly, took place on August 29 and has been running since the mid-1970s. The carnival saw the streets become a sea of colour with revellers, flags and floats parading down Commercial Street celebrating one of the city's most culturally diverse areas.
But its future now appears in doubt after its committee announced they would be stepping down this week. Speaking to WalesOnline, chairman of the committee, Ali Boksh, said the committee had made the decision due to increased pressures of running the festival, including cost and logistics. He said this came despite last month's event being the most successful event the committee had run.
"It was three years since the last Carnival, and it was the biggest procession in probably about 10 years," he said. "We normally have about 10 floats and we had 15 this year. We had about 3,000 people watching on the streets and about 5,000 came afterwards to watch the entertainment. I've been a part of the committee for 20 years - some of us have been there for even longer - and we felt that we all have taken it as far as we can. It needs some new eyes and groups to take it forward."
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Mr Boksh, 43, said the core five-person committee organised the carnival voluntarily and said it had become more difficult to run in recent years due to cost and logistics. "It has cost us money, we have often put our own money in over the years," he said. "It's probably the only time that the whole community comes together and celebrates the diversity we have in Pill - we have had Filipino groups, Caribbean, Gambian, African.
"For us it's gotten harder to organise with the new stipulations there are. It's hard to find storage to build the floats - sometimes we build them on the day. Space around Pill to store and build them is hard to come by. The Road Traffic Act has changed things too. I think they are trying to move away from floats but we have tried to keep it going by putting disclaimers and various other assurances in place."
Mr Boksh added that the committee "wanted to go out on a high" after the success of August's event and said he was "hopeful" new organisers could be found to take the Carnival forward with help from the outgoing committee.
"We've got people we know might be interested - they just need to have some help around how to organise and plan it which we would give them as the current committee. We had great help from Tin Shed Theatre Company for this year's event and we would love other creative groups to take over the artistic elements of the Carnival so that the committee can focus on the organisation.
"I'm very hopeful at this stage that people will take Carnival on. I don't think it's going to stop, I just feel it might take a little bit of time to get a new committee up to speed."
In a post on social media, the carnival committee said it was with "a lot of reflection and a heavy heart" that it had decided to step down. Saying it had "not been an easy decision", the committee added: "We have loved putting on the carnival for the last 15 years as part of the current committee and did it for the love of the carnival and our community. We wanted to go out on a high, and what a way to do it. We thought it was best that we made everyone aware of our decision as soon as possible so that there is enough time for another team and a new committee can be formed, so they have enough time to start planning for next year’s Carnival."
Thanking committee members, attendees and volunteers who took part in the carnival over the years, the committee said it was looking for a new team to lead the Carnival next year. "If you are are a individual, group, creative, community member, leader or volunteer then this is your chance to get in touch and be a part of the future of [the] Carnival."
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