Godiva replacement comes under fire
City centre event is dubbed a 'jolly' that will ruin the brand
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.”
But Labour’s cabinet member for strategic finance and resources, Cllr Richard Brown, was adamant that staging replacement events over the summer was the right thing to do.
He said: “Godiva is giving the city something to cheer about. We have the World Cup coming and we have a lot of youth talent in this city so why shouldn’t we give them a chance. Hopefully we will be celebrating the Sky Blues going up. That’s what this cash is for! I think it is the right thing to do.”
And the Labour leader, Cllr George Duggins, added: “We could not ignore the fact that attendances at the Godiva Festival – if you use the starting point of 73,000 in 2023 – became 51,000 in 2024 and fell to 36,000 in 2025. This year the Godiva brand will be maintained for all of the people in the city and I hope many will sample the experience of the new city centre Godiva weekend.”