Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

“Arts and sport are inclusive and can contribute to neighbourhood renewal. They can build
confidence and encourage strong community groups. However, these benefits are frequently
overlooked both by some providers of arts and sport facilities and programmes and by those
involved in area regeneration programmes.” 86
4.4 The PAT 10 report identified the various distinctive contributions which the arts have to offer
when tackling the root causes of social exclusion:
4.4.1 Growing industries - arts (and sport): are closely connected to the rapidly growing
creative, leisure and tourism industries, which in turn provide powerful positive role
models for those living in deprived neighbourhoods; bring economic benefits both to
communities, with increased employment opportunities, and to individuals, by
equipping them with transferable skills; and help develop the personal confidence,
flexibility and self-reliance on which success in the changing employment market
increasingly depends.
4.4.2 Engaging and strengthening local communities - (arts and sport): lend themselves
naturally to voluntary collaborative arrangements which help to develop a sense of
community; help communities to express their identity and develop their own, selfreliant
organisations; and relate directly to individual and community identity, the
very things which need to be restored if neighbourhoods are to be renewed.
Recognising and developing the culture of marginalized people and groups directly
tackles their sense of being written out of the script.
4.4.3 Emphasis on people, not buildings or places - (arts and sport): are activities in which
people participate willingly, and in which there is widespread interest, including
among people at risk of social exclusion; give individuals social, organisational and
marketable skills; can communicate directly with individuals and groups and bring out
hidden talents which have a lasting effect on the person’s life; give individuals
greater self-respect; self-confidence and a sense of achievement; and can contribute
to greater self-esteem and improved mental well-being.
4.5 Over the years, the Notting Hill Carnival has proved itself to be a significant vehicle for
positive community engagement in the arts. In addition, the impact of this cultural festival
has not been confined to Notting Hill or indeed the Capital. Many have been unaware of the
major role played by the Carnival organiser and London-based carnival groups in establishing
and breathing life into regional carnivals up and down the country. Indeed, a critical feature
of the Notting Hill Carnival’s year-round agenda of activities has been its annual national
touring programme, made possible through funding from the Arts Council. In 1998,
organisers of the Laid and Pond Festival at Stoke-on-Trent appointed experts from the
Notting Hill Carnival to help them train people in carnival arts and design.
The Luton Carnival Experiment
4.6 Since the closure of its Vauxhall plant, Luton has resolved to reposition itself. With excellent
national and international links via road, rail and air, a culturally diverse population and a
university, Luton has much on which to build for the future. The town’s cultural profile is at
the heart of its strategies for community revival and it has identified its annual carnival as the
asset that it hopes will put it on the international cultural map.
86
Department of Culture Media and Sport Policy Action Team 10 (PAT 10) Report (1999), p5
139