Bath Carnival has retained the use of a vacant shop on Twerton High Street after their team of artists transformed it into a functioning studio space earlier in the year.
Photo © Nick Cole
The empty unit became the creative hub of the organisations after the landlords, Greenacre Capital and Bath City Football Club, agreed to provide it free of charge, with artists creating costumes and preparing community workshops over the summer period.
Following the success of the carnival in July, the landlords agreed to Bath Carnival continuing to occupy the space to prepare for more creative projects.
Local carnival artists have spent the past month preparing for Bath Carnival’s latest project, the Di?a de los Muertos event in partnership with SouthGate Bath.
Shona Hernon, Greenacre Capital, said: “We were pleased to be able to offer Bath Carnival free use of the premises in Twerton High Street to help them with their planning and operations for this fantastic event.
“The passion and drive of a small volunteer force who are solely reliant on fundraising is a prime example of what can be done when a community comes together.
“We at Greenacre and Bath City Football Club are delighted to have been able to provide the opportunity for Bath Carnival to broaden support and participation from the community
“We look forward to continuing to support Bath Carnival in their future endeavours.”
The project has been supported by Bath & North East Somerset Council, as part of the regional ‘Love our High Streets’ pilot with the West of England Combined Authority, which seeks to re-vitalise and re-think the way we use local high streets.
Stu Matson, Bath Carnival Organiser, said: “It is vitally important that our artists have a dedicated space to work from throughout the year, so we are extremely grateful to all parties involved in providing this space.
“As well as designing our autumn projects here, we have already used the premises to make a start on preparing the new costume designs for next year’s community outreach programme and Bath Carnival 2020 event.”
