A joint statement from city government leaders and the organization, headed by Nicola A. Williams, who is currently running for Cambridge City Council, said: “Based on the recommendation of Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville G. Bard, Jr., and the Cambridge Carnival Committee, the City Manager Louis A. DePasquale have agreed to cancel this year\u2019s Cambridge Carnival.”<\/p>\n
\u201cCambridge Carnival Committee is looking at all options and we will be organizing activities later this fall to celebrate and share our Caribbean heritage with pride,” the organization wrote. “We will feature food, art and culture, and present the Mayor’s Spirit of Carnival Awards. Details about this fall celebration is forthcoming. Stay tuned.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Note: I work for the city of Cambridge\u2019s Arts Council.)<\/em><\/p>\n People responded to the announcement with upset and dismay. \u201cThat\u2019s crazy. I\u2019m sooooooooo mad. Why do you cancel \u201ceverything\u201d black? Boston just had the festival and it was great. I thought Cambridge was better than this,\u201d one commentator wrote on the Facebook event page.<\/p>\n Another commentator wrote: \u201cCambridge I guess is showing it\u2019s prejudice as always. My family and I have been going to this every year SINCE I WAS A BABY. Super messed up of y\u2019all to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n A third commentator said: \u201cWhy do the media, police and public officials continue to blame the carnivals for the violence that happens around it. It is not the participants, the bands or the hundreds of spectators that brings the violence to the or around the event. It is the very few individuals who on sporadic occasions causes these incidents but year after year our festivals are given disparaging coverage. The city needs too look into the real culprits of these incidents and make it known to the public that these events have nothing to do with the carnivals.\u201d<\/p>\n Last weekend\u2019s Boston Caribbean Carnival was marred by violence. Around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Boston police assigned to the Boston Caribbean Carnival\u2019s dawn J\u2019ouvert Parade reported<\/a> that \u201cWhile in plain view of the officers, [Michael] Warner produced a firearm and began to shoot across the street at [Atunbi] Bryan who in turn also produced a firearm and began to shoot back at Warner. The two suspects then simultaneously turned in opposite directions and fled on foot.\u201d Both men were quickly arrested, police said.<\/p>\n There has also been violence around past Cambridge Carnivals, which prompted discussions in past years of curtailing the festivities. Two people were injured in a shooting near the Cambridge Carnival\u2019s main stage in Kendall Square in 2017. The previous year, a woman\u2019s face was cut during a fight in Central Square. A woman was shot in the foot at the event in 2015. A fight at the 2014 festival left a person stabbed in the arm.<\/p>\n Dear Cambridge Carnival Friends,<\/p>\n It is with a heavy heart that the Cambridge Carnival Committee share the news about the cancellation of this year’s event on September 8th. Cambridge Carnival Committee is looking at all options and we will be organizing activities later this fall to celebrate and share our Caribbean heritage with pride. We will feature food, art and culture, and present the Mayor’s Spirit of Carnival Awards. Details about this fall celebration is forthcoming. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n GET INVOLVED! The Cambridge Carnival Committee is recruiting members and volunteers. Email cambridgecarnival@gmail.com. August 29, 2019<\/p>\n Based on the recommendation of Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville G. Bard, Jr., and the Cambridge Carnival Committee, the City Manager Louis A. DePasquale have agreed to cancel this year\u2019s Cambridge Carnival. This year\u2019s event was scheduled for Sunday, September 8.<\/p>\n For the past 26 years, the Cambridge Carnival has been an important cultural event for the City of Cambridge and the greater region. However, there have been increasing safety concerns associated with this year\u2019s event due in part to the gun violence that occurred last weekend in the immediate vicinity of Boston\u2019s Caribbean Carnival Parade.<\/p>\n The safety of the Cambridge community and those planning to participate in this event or any Cambridge event is paramount and will always serve as the highest priority as it pertains to making difficult decisions like this.<\/p>\n We greatly appreciate the community and expected participants\u2019 understanding with this decision.<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n Added by Cambridge Carnival Previously:<\/strong> If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n Cambridge Carnival\u2014the spectacular annual Caribbean parade and festival planned for Sept. 8\u2014has been canceled due to fears of violence, organizers announced Thursday night. \u201cThere have been increasing safety concerns associated with this year\u2019s event due in part to the gun violence that occurred last weekend in the immediate vicinity of Boston\u2019s Caribbean Carnival Parade,\u201d Cambridge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,102,119],"tags":[42,600,1069],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13192"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13192"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23613,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13192\/revisions\/23613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cambridge](\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/picCambridgeCarnival190829.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Cambridge](\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/picCaribbeanCarnivalCambridge170910_0592w-1024x681.jpg\")
<\/a>Full statement from Cambridge Carnival International:<\/h3>\n
\n——-
\nCAMBRIDGE CARNIVAL INTERNATIONAL AND CITY OF CAMBRIDGE JOINT STATEMENT<\/p>\n
\nCambridge Carnival Committee is looking at all options and will be organizing activities later this fall to celebrate and share our Caribbean heritage with pride. We will feature food, art and culture, and present the Mayor’s Spirit of Carnival Awards. Details about this fall celebration is forthcoming. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n
\nSept. 10, 2017: Photos: 25th Cambridge Carnival Parade<\/a><\/p>\n
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