Shops / st Pauls carnival
Pop-up shop opens in run-up to St Paul’s Carnival
Organisers and locals gathered to celebrate the opening of St Paul’s Carnival’s first ever pop-up shop.
Sharing the space with the carnival team are African Collective, a group of entrepreneurs who first opened the shop on 136 Grosvenor Road in St Paul’s at the end of last year.
The shop will sell products including jewellery, clothing, mugs, cards and skincare prior to this year’s Carnival on July 6.
is needed now More than ever
As well as selling merchandise, the shop will host weekly community drop-in sessions to offer information on the event to the local community – from licence applications to road closures and details about the day.
Members of the St Paul’s Carnival team and superintendent Andy Bennett celebrate the opening of the pop-up shop.
Superintendent Andy Bennett was also at the launch, having worked with the carnival committee throughout the year to ensure that the event is delivered safely.
“Police have a really important part to come along, to keep people safe, but also to engage with people and make sure they feel safe while they’re having fun,” he told Bristol24/7.
Having been to St Paul’s Carnival every year since 2002, Bennett reminisced about his fond memories of previous celebrations: “I’ve been put in headdresses, I’ve been part of the carnival route, I’ve danced with people, I’ve really been able to engage with people at a different level than I can during my day job.
“This is so fundamentally important to policing that we get an opportunity to engage with all communities, but particularly the African-Caribbean community.”
The African Collective outside the shop on Grosvenor Road
African Collective members Sandra Gordon and Christelle Pellecuer were also at the pop-up shop’s opening.
Excited about the collaboration between St Paul’s Carnival and African Collective, Sandra said: “Carnival is a collective entity in several ways, so it just made sense for the two of us to come together.”
“I am looking forward to the local community coming to support local traders,” added Christelle. “We’re doing it for the community, so it will be nice to see them click.
“I think this years carnival is going to be quite an interesting mix, I’m looking forward to the school children performing their dance routine, they’ve been practising for a few weeks.”
Sandra highlighted St Paul’s Carnival’s 2019 theme, ‘Our Journey’: “I think for a lot of people from within the Caribbean community it has been a journey coming here and I think Carnival just kind of brings that all together, it’s an explosion of everything we are.”
Read more: Inside the African Collective pop-up in St Paul’s
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