Funding crisis: Carnival came 'very close to not happening this year'

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 that it is taking place at all.

- Lanre Bakare

The chair of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Ian Comfort, said the event needed to secure a sustainable future after a year of funding rows, public disagreements with the Metropolitan 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 about carnival, which costs more than £11m a year to police but is worth about £400m to the local economy, needs to change.

"Should the government recognise carnival as much as it recognises New Year's Eve? For many, that sounds very odd, but for many in the Caribbean community, carnival is just like Christmas," said Comfort, who wants guaranteed funding for five years.

In June, it emerged that the annual celebration could be in jeopardy without "urgent funding" from the government, according to a leaked letter from its organisers.