This year’s Northampton Carnival is set to explode with colour and community. We caught up with carnival designer and workshop facilitator Emma Garofalo and artist Sarah Terry to find out more about the inspiration, the costumes, and what makes this project by Inspiration Arts so special.
Founder of Inspiration Arts, a community organisation specialising in carnival arts, Emma Garofalo is a carnival designer with a global carnival story. With funding from the Arts Council she facilitated free creative workshops in the run up to the carnival held at Coconut Paradise Cafe in Gold Street Mews for a brand new troupe.
“At Notting Hill carnival, they have what they call a mass camp which is the place where the costumes are built. In the mass camp, it means people can drop in day and night. Granny comes with some cake. Uncle comes and brings some rum. Someone plays some music. It’s just this family vibe. And that’s what I really wanted to create with the carnival workshops at Coconut Paradise cafe: that intergenerational atmosphere; minus the rum!
Listen to the conversation here:
What is different about your involvement with the Northampton Carnival this year?
I’ve been part of Northampton Carnival for many years often bringing in costumes from previous projects. But this year is different – this is the first time I’ve designed costumes specifically for Northampton Carnival. I’ve also managed to secure Arts Council funding to create a brand new troupe consisting of children, adults, students and local performers.
Can you tell us more about the carnival costume workshops you’ve been running?
Along with lead artist, Sarah Terry, we’ve been running free workshops for children, adults, students who have been able to come in and co-create their costumes which has been very exciting.
The children have been part of the creation process right up to the day of the carnival.
Sarah: I’ve been leading a lot of the children’s workshops, focusing on simple arts and crafts. There’s a confidence-building aspect—kids make parts of the costumes that then become part of the bigger whole. It’s about making them feel connected to the arts and especially to carnival culture.
Hear what the children have to say about their involvment in carnival preparations here:
Northants Uncovered: You’ve brought along some pre-existing costumes and made some new costumes as well. Can you describe them?
The theme this year is The Elements of Carnival – Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. So we’ve created costumes for each element.
The fire section is full of movement—reds, oranges, yellows—lots of flowing fabric.
The earth section features a large deer costume I made previously. The deer heads are built on a framework, and the kids helped decorate them by printing beautiful leaves we’ve used all over.
And the flower costume are really fun. They were designed with help from friends at Elevate Arts. Abby does the welding and backpack frames, while Gina focuses on decoration. The flowers have big petals made with fiberglass rods and fabric. They’re not huge like Notting Hill scale, but for Northampton they’re impressive—very photographic, and they move beautifully.
There’s a few surprises up my sleeve as well for the audience on the day!
Northants Uncovered: Tell us a bit more about your background in carnival arts.
Emma: I’ve got over 25 years of experience in carnival costume design. I’ve created costumes for the Rio carnival, Trinidad carnival, the Notting Hill carnival and of course the Northampton carnival. My background is in carnival arts, which naturally led me into outdoor arts—festivals, parades, cultural events. I’ve done lots of workshops with children and with adults. I’ve done some indoor work too, but what I love about carnival is that it’s out in the open.
Most of the time, the costumes I’ve made have been huge – I use lots of structures, metal, fabric and I make big costumes that move nicely so the performer can have fun.
The joy of carnival is that it’s so inclusive. You don’t need a ticket—you can be part of it or just watch from the sidelines. It’s there for everyone.
Northampton Carnival will be taking place on Saturday 14th June 2025, The Racecourse Park, Kettering Road, Northampton NN1 4LG. The park opens from 12.00pm until 7.30pm
The parade will start from the Northampton Racecourse at 2pm and make its way along the Kettering Road, Abington Street and the town centre before making its way back.