What’s it like to handle media relations for one of Oxford’s most loved community events? Chris Walker of Spriggs David, the Oxford firm which handled PR for Cowley Road Carnival this year, walks us through.
Oxford schools in the Carnival Procession. Courtesy Nick Atkins
Traditionally taking place on Oxford’s most vibrant and ethnically diverse street – Cowley Road – over the first weekend in July, people travel for miles to experience the procession, the local bands, the international cuisine and the spectacular atmosphere of a summer street party.
For media relations, everyone has a view on what Carnival should be, where it should be staged, who should appear, and who should pay for it. Local media such as The Oxford Mail, Oxford Times and BBC Oxford support Carnival heavily and, like so many people in Oxford, are very keen to see it stay on Cowley Road.
But with such large numbers of people to manage, and public funds drying up, the costs of staging Carnival on Cowley Road are escalating, and finding the money to cover the elements of closing the Road, from road signage, to security and public facilities, is harder than ever.
This is a story about managing communications for a diverse, exciting and socially significant event. In the months running up to Carnival, there was always news to tell, and often required quick action to get the right results, whether we were handling photoshoots in local primary schools or explaining difficult decisions to the community.
Roadblock
From the very beginning Carnival attracted controversy. First the possibility of roadworks threatened to derail Carnival before it even started. When this story attracted so much coverage the authorities stepped in and said they would allow the road closure despite the roadworks, and everyone leapt for joy! Roadblock removed, the Carnival was back on track and on the front page of the Oxford Mail.
Music legend
We then turned our efforts to generate news content to excite everyone about the programme and especially the outdoor fundraiser Fiesta in the Park, which happens the night before on the main Carnival stage. This year our music producer Autumn Neagle had secured Mercury Prize nominated rapper Roots Manuva to head a lineup including Kanda Bongo Man, and Grand Union Orchestra and we unveiled the big news in a blaze of publicity.
Funding shortfall
All along our fundraising campaign continued and we helped the organisers get the message out through the media that local businesses should come forward to support Carnival if they want the event to survive. For a number of years, as an established community cultural event, Carnival has attracted major support from the Arts Council, Oxford City and County Councils as well as huge local employer MINI Plant Oxford. But economic times being what they are, the event struggled to attract the scale of funding necessary. Our next big news flash was plans to make carnival procession longer than before. However note the word of caution Karen’s quote about the lack of funding:
“We are some way off and we may have to make some very hard decisions.”
Two weeks later and our worst fears have come true. The Trustees of Cowley Road Works had to made the very tough decision to move the whole event to nearby South Park as they simply didn’t have the money to keep it on the Road. Cowley Road Works chairman John Hole hit the nail on the head in the Oxford Mail when he said:
“This is a decision which we have not taken lightly, and we know that many people in the Oxford community will be bitterly disappointed, as we are ourselves.
“However, we have not received support to the scale that we had hoped and planned for, resulting in a major shortfall in funding the costs of the road closure.”
Disappointing news, yes, but at least Carnival was still happening in a year that has seen many outdoor festivals cancelled. Oxford’s biggest free community event was something to get excited about and we worked hard, together with our contacts in the media, to convey this message. The Oxford Mail ran this leader in support.
Carnival preparations
So, full steam ahead in the final and most crucial weeks before Carnival, a huge amount of preparation was under way, especially among the 14 local schools taking part in the Procession. MINI Plant Oxford has funded the schools workshops taking place in the six weeks before the event to help the schools, working with professional artists and dancers, and coordinated by Fusion Arts, build their costumes. MINI Plant engineers were attending the workshops to help with structures and design, and the results were spectacular – the Plant event painted up a MINI Clubman in Carnival colours!
And others were getting involved too, from youth groups to to dance troupes …
… and just as all this work was making everyone thirsty, Wychwood, a brew which even Barack Obama has sampled, stepped in with its very own Carniv-Ale (and what a tough job that photoshoot was)!
On stage at last
The weekend of 2nd and 3rd July arrived and Carnival was finally upon us. We had worked with the Oxford Mail to secure an interview with Roots Manuva, who promised to put on his best show with new material at Fiesta.
And then fresh from the fields of Worthy Farm ‘The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band’ were proud to say that performing at Cowley Road Carnival is more important than playing Glastonbury.
Our perseverance with the NME and music blogs pays off as and they carry the news that Roots Manuva will give debut performances of his new material at Fiesta in the Park. Lots of tweeting and liking ensues.
Our news is also publicised in the blogospheres courtesy of British hip-hop.co.uk…
One last minute push and it’s almost partytime.
Wesley Smith interviews a Carnival performer
Thankfully the weather was kind to us and around 20,000 people turned out for an enjoyable and family friendly day in South Park. Phil Gayle and Wesley Smith from BBC Oxford broadcast live from the Park and the Oxford Mail gave a huge amount of coverage and picture splashes the following day. Thinking ahead, we worked with the organisers to reveal the news that former Apprentice Star and Oxford resident Saira Khan had offered to help us raise funds to keep Carnival alive.
Olympic future
Twenty-twelve will be a hugely important year for Oxford, as the Olympic Torch Relay will be travelling through the city in early July. A concerted communications campaign designed to generate even more excitement for Carnival will we hope attract the financial support it needs, ensuring the survival of one of Oxford’s most inclusive, diverse, vibrant and free events.
Watch this space!
The Carnival PR Team
Karen David of Spriggs David handled media relations for Carnival for the second year running. ‘Even though we moved Carnival to South Park, it was still on a much bigger scale than last year. The event attracts so much regional media attention, there is no end to stories, photoshoots and interviews. Visually exciting, there’s always a story to tell, whether about children making fantastic costumes, brilliant music performances or delicious cuisine from local traders.”
Chris Walker, who joined Spriggs David in the spring of 2011, spent three years as a reporter for the Oxford Mail and had covered it the previous year. “It’s an amazing experience to work on an event that I’d covered extensively as a journalist the year before. There are so many real opportunities with the media – but you have to get the timing right and do everything you can to be in the right place with the right story at the right time.”
Carnival volunteer Georgina Robinson brought sparkle to the Carnival website, and Monika Trzaskowska kept our Facebook and Twitter feeds alive throughout the weekend!
Like this:
One blogger likes this post.
