About
Paracarnival is an ambitious, disability-led arts organisation rooted in Carnival, performance, and visual arts practice.
Our work spans large-scale public spectacle, costume and design, painting, murals, and collaborative performance. We place disabled artists and people often excluded from cultural spaces at the centre of artistic creation.
Founded as a grassroots initiative supporting disabled performers to take centre stage in mainstream Carnival culture, Paracarnival has grown into a cross-borough cultural organisation working across Hackney, Tower Hamlets, and Newham.
Our practice is:
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Intergenerational
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Intercultural
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Community-led
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Artist-centred
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We collaborate with people navigating disability, mental health challenges, isolation, and economic hardship — not as beneficiaries, but as artists shaping the work itself.
Through ambitious public performances and sustained creative programmes, we build:
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Visibility
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Confidence
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Collective strength
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Social connection and wellbeing
History
Paracarnival was founded in 2010 following a pivotal moment within the Carnival community.
The organisation emerged after Sian Veysey OBE, a wheelchair user, joined the Thames Festival Parade through a connection with Henrique Da Silva and the Paraiso School of Samba. This experience revealed both the potential and the lack of visible disability leadership within mainstream Carnival spaces.
That moment inspired the creation of a dedicated artistic space where disabled artists could lead creative direction and public performance themselves.
Shortly afterwards, Boo Armstrong, founder of Get Well UK, provided early financial support that helped establish the organisation and increase visibility for the emerging work.
In 2011, a small initial grant enabled Paracarnival’s first dedicated workshops. Working with modest resources and shared costumes, the group performed its first Carnival at Notting Hill Carnival.
The artistic quality and public response demonstrated that disability leadership and artistic excellence were not in opposition — they strengthened one another.
In 2013, Paracarnival received its first grant from Arts Council England, marking a major turning point in organisational development.
In 2016, the organisation was formally constituted, creating governance structures capable of supporting long-term growth and sustainability.
As Paracarnival evolved, its work expanded beyond London through collaborations with:
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Mencap Birmingham
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Mind Oxford
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Brasilia Carnival
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Cowley Road Carnival
These partnerships reinforced the organisation’s commitment to disability-led inclusive Carnival practice across multiple regions and communities.
Today, Paracarnival:
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Operates across Hackney, Tower Hamlets, and Newham
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Produces large-scale Carnival and visual arts projects
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Delivers community-based creative programmes
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Holds multiple awards for Carnival design and public performance
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Contributes to the Hackney Carnival Trust and the future direction of Carnival in the borough
Vision & Mission
Paracarnival works toward a cultural landscape where artistic excellence emerges through shared space, diversity, and collective experience.
We believe public art should reflect the richness of human experience and create environments where people meet as equals.
Grounded in kindness, hospitality, and high artistic standards, we create work that transforms difference into collective strength.
Paracarnival creates ambitious, high-quality artistic work through Carnival, performance, and collaborative practice shaped by disabled artists and communities often excluded from cultural life.
Through public performance and collective creation, we demonstrate that difference is not a limitation — it is a source of artistic innovation and excellence.
Paracarnival represents a distinctive and necessary cultural voice within the UK arts sector.
By combining Carnival, disability leadership, public performance, and community collaboration, the organisation demonstrates that artistic excellence and social inclusion are not separate ambitions — they are mutually reinforcing.
The next stage of development requires infrastructure that matches the quality and ambition of the work itself. With the right support, Paracarnival is positioned to become a nationally recognised model for disability-led public arts practice.