Godiva Festival will not be held in 2026...

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The Godiva Festival first started in 1997 as a one-day festival at Coventry's War Memorial Park



Coventry's Godiva Festival will not take place this year, the BBC has learned.

It will instead be replaced with an event called "Godiva in the City", a free city centre event.

The city council is announcing the changes as it prepares its budget for 2026-27 and, as part of those discussions, has decided the Godiva Festival, held at the War Memorial Park, is no longer financially viable.

A council spokesperson confirmed that the event will be "paused" for 2026.

The spokesperson said they were facing rising costs and industry challenges and it was important to review how the festival could be delivered in a sustainable and cost-effective way, that was affordable for Coventry's residents.

They added that pausing the festival for 2026 would allow them to explore future options, review delivery models and look for new funding opportunities "to ensure Godiva Festival can return in a sustainable form."

While confirming no festival for 2026, the spokesperson said the authority's support for the city's creative sector and community events continued.

"A new and exciting programme of summer events will be delivered by the council in Coventry city centre later this year, offering music, culture and creative celebration," they added.

The statement also confirmed that a new two-day event called Godiva in the City, would take place on the weekend of the 4-5 September, as part of a programme of free and low-cost events, showcasing local musicians and talent

The first Godiva Festival was held in the War Memorial Park in 1997 as a one-day event, becoming a three-day festival the year after.

Until 2018, entry was free but the local authority started charging people to attend in 2019.

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Godiva 'in the city' £400K replacement comes under fire



Opposition councillors have slammed the ruling Labour group's plan to stage a two-day city centre summer event in place of the Godiva Festival this year, calling it a 'hotchpotch' and a 'jolly'.

A figure of £400,000 has been allocated to a Godiva in the City event to take place in July, an amount agreed as part of the budget approved at this week's (Tuesday) full council meeting.

Coventry City Council announced earlier this month that the popular festival, which has been running for more than 25 years at the War Memorial Park, was being 'paused' due to rising costs and industry challenges. A statement explained that a full review would be carried out to see how it could be delivered sustainably in the future and that it would be replaced by a new summer programme including Godiva in the City on Saturday 4 and Sunday, July 5.

Speaking at the council meeting, Cllr Peter Male said: "Last year the Conservative group called for a review into the future of the Godiva Festival and we are pleased that the Labour group has responded to our calls. It is not appropriate to allocate funding for an event until this review has been completed. This is a bizarre proposal and further confirms that they have more money than they know what to do with."

Tory group leader Cllr Gary Ridley, in response to Labour's budget proposals, added: "Is there anything that sums up the wasteful spending in this budget better than a £400,000 allocation to the Godiva Festival that is not even happening? Coventry has been known as the Ghost Town and now it has its own Ghost Festival to go with it .

"We should be very clear about what we do with the Godiva Festival; pull it for this year, save the money and look at what we do next year."

There was also criticism from Reform with Cllr Jackie Gardiner saying: "Going ahead with a hotchpotch would damage the brand. There are more pressing priorities for the city than a summer jolly for some."

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/godiva-in-city-400k-replacement-33492483

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Specials legend says Godiva in the City gig was 'meagrely attended'



A Coventry music legend has said his band's gig at the Godiva in the City event this weekend was 'meagrely attended'.

Horace Panter, bass player for 2-Tone legends The Specials, was performing at the event with his outfit Dirt Road Band.

The group performed at the Millennium Place section of the event on Sunday at 5.50pm - the final slot before headline act The Selecter.

Hours after the gig, Panter shared an image of himself on stage at the "meagrely attended Godiva in the City shindig in Coventry this afternoon".

Images shared online show a mixed bag in terms of attendances. Some areas looked well attended while others looked close to empty.

Certain sections of the event were ticketed, and it these will billed as being sold out, but Godiva shared updates through the weekend that some tickets had been returned meaning you could turn up and purchase there.

A post shared on Sunday morning stated: "Due to some people returning their tickets, we have additional wristbands available for today’s stellar musical line-up.

"If you already have tickets, you can head down to Drapers’ Hall and collect your wristbands for fast-track entry through the gates. Running late? Head straight down to the the music stages and we'll have wristbands available for collection upon arrival.

"If you don’t already have a ticket for today, and still want to come along to enjoy the music, you can arrive at the gates and be allowed entry, if there’s capacity."

Approached for a comment, Coventry City Council said all 10,000 free tickets for the main stages were snapped up, but acknowledged that a higher-than-expected number of no-shows on the Saturday meant organisers were able to release further tickets and welcome more people to the music stages on the Sunday.

Cllr John McNicholas, Coventry City Council’s Cabinet Member for Events, said: “Like many free ticketed events, we saw a number of people who'd reserved a ticket not attend on the day. That meant some performances didn't always have the crowd numbers we wanted or expected, and it's a lesson for us as we plan future events – including how we manage ticket allocation and reminders to make sure as many people as possible take up their place.