Festival date set as council overspend revealed

The Godiva Festival will return to Coventry this July, the city council confirms, as a new report reveals the authority went over their overall budget for culture this year by £1m.

The popular event will again welcome music lovers to the War Memorial Park on 4-6 July.

Festival-goers were previously warned they could face higher ticket prices when the city council elected to make cuts to its £300,000 subsidy for the event.

New documents show the authority is yet to decide how to raise the money to fill the shortfall for the festival as a result of those cuts.

A report, released ahead of a meeting of the council's finance and corporate services scrutiny board, said the authority was predicted to overspend by £1m on culture in 2024-25.

Officials warned "urgent action" was needed after it was revealed the council is set to go over its overall budget by £7m.

They said this year's budget issues were partly caused by a delay in rolling out last year's savings.

The festival along with holding costs for the IKEA building - due to be turned into a collections centre and cultural hub - were the two main reasons for the culture overspend, the report said.

Following its publication, the council's deputy leader, Abdul Salam Khan, stressed the Godiva Festival's economic benefits for the city and said the authority was committed to keeping prices "as low as possible".

Ticket prices and the line-up for this year's festival have not yet been announced.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted the council with further questions about the overspends.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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