The news of the annual Caribbean Carnival Parade might be canceled because of mounting debt associated with the event was certainly a downer, but it's not final—at least not yet.
Aides to Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) tell us that they're working to find a new location for the parade, which started in 1993 and takes place along a stretch of Georgia Avenue NW. The president of the parade, Roland Barnes, seemed to hint as much when he was quoted by The City Paper , "Unless someone is able to wave a magic wand in the next 24 hours, there will be no parade on Georgia Avenue." (Emphasis ours.)
According to TBD, similar financial woes last year led organizers to consider scrapping the parade and instead moving the whole festival to the grounds around RFK Stadiuum.
The phone at the office of the carnival's organizers was busy this afternoon, but we'll have more once we get more details of possible new locations.
UPDATE, 4 p.m. yesterday: The parade's organizers response on its Facebook page, further denying that the parade would be canceled:
This morning the DC City Paper wrote an article that states DC Carnival is Cancel. This is not true. We attended a meeting last night with the lower Georgia Avenue Business Community to provide an update on DC Carnival 2012. We express the financial challenges the Carnival is facing with respect to City services and that we are exploring alternatives to Georgia Avenue this year. We never mentioned canceling the Carnival but I guess this makes for bigger and better news. This confirm to us that we are facing an uphill battle to sustain our culture in this ever changing DC community. We no longer can depend on the City to help us. This is a wake up call for us to help ourself. If we do not mobilize as a community and show the City that we are important and we do make a difference then the headlines might prove to be true.
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