Ian Comfort calls for government to recognise cultural importance of event and guarantee its sustainable future
About 2 million people are expected to take to the streets this weekend at the annual Notting Hill carnival for its mix of music, food and Caribbean culture, but for the man who runs it, there is a sense of relief to see it taking place at all.
The chair of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Ian Comfort, told the Guardian that the event needed to secure a sustainable future after a year of funding rows, public disagreements with the Met police, and negative press after violence last year.
This year’s event was saved only a few weeks ago after almost £1m of funding was raised to provide extra safety and infrastructure measures, with Comfort admitting it came “very close” to not happening.
Comfort, who usually stays in the background and rarely gives interviews, says that cannot continue. He says the whole conversation around carnival, which costs more than £11m a year to police but is worth about £400m to the local economy, needs to change.
