Preston Caribbean Carnival parade shortened and will avoid city centre

The creative costumes at Preston Carnival

A last-minute change has hit this year’s Preston Caribbean Carnival parade.

Organisers say they are changing the route to not go into Preston city centre and have taken a swipe at city centre businesses for not supporting them.

The route – which had been due to return to going down Friargate and was taking in the Flag Market – has been adjusted.

It will still start and end at Moor Park but instead will go from 12noon on Sunday (26 May) via Deepdale Road, Meadow Street, St Paul’s Road, Sedgwick at North Road and Garstang Road and back to Moor Park.

The shortened route is also due to a round of funding ‘not coming through’ leaving the organisers with no choice but to scale-back the parade on what is the 50th anniversary of the Caribbean Carnival.

In a statement on Wednesday 22 May, the organisers said: “We want to share some important details about the route this year. As some of you are now aware, we have had to change the route for this year’s event. We are a charity and rely on funding and donations to make everything work for you all. Unfortunately, a round of funding we had expected did not come through, and virtually no city centre businesses donated to us this year, with many saying “we go past anyway.”

“We understand times are hard and fully respect those who can’t help us. We don’t expect anything, and it is our responsibility to reach our fundraising targets. We must ensure the show goes on and to make it possible, we had to make route changes.

“Everything on Moor Park will go as planned, and it is simply a route change to ensure our 50th Anniversary is still celebrated. We apologise for any confusion caused and are thankful for the love and support from the people of Preston, our dance troops, and helpers.”

Preston Business Improvement District (BID), Mark Whittle, who represents city centre businesses, told Blog Preston: “It’s unfortunate that the Carnival procession will not take in the city centre. It has been a challenging period for high street businesses, which may have resulted in them not being in a position to finally support events such as this, as much as they may have wanted to.”

Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.