ORGANISERS of Devizes Carnival have declared the fun will go on but the parade will be moved from July to October 4.

Other big events run by Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts such as the International Street Festival and the Confetti Battle will move to May next year.

Artistic director Loz Samuels is pleased that Arts Council England has agreed funding for the coming year. She said: “DOCA has some great news to share in the midst of these very uncertain times.

“Arts Council England has awarded funding which will enable us to deliver our programme of much loved events.

“In the light of these fast changing times DOCA’s Trustees have been considering the best course of action for our future planning whilst ensuring the safety of all involved.

“Our first event should be carnival which was planned for the 11th of July, as coronavirus has meant school closures the trustees propose to move the event to October.”

She said this would mean workshops for schools would be held in the autumn term to help create costumes with a Go Wild theme.

Any schools that want to take part are encouraged to make contact via the DOCA website.

She said: “The workshops are free and will be artist led. DOCA is asking people to collect materials as we aim to make the carnival costumes out of as much recycled material as possible.”

The sort of items needed are bubble wrap, large pieces of cardboard, ribbons and coloured plastic.

Ms Samuels said: “I’m amazed and thrilled Arts Council is supporting us. We are going to start posting tutorials on our facebook page and website showing how to make flowers and other elements which we will be able to collect together and use to make into head dresses and costumes with the children in the autumn term.

“We hope everyone will pull together to celebrate when this difficult time is over.”