Car­ni­val 2026 in San Fer­nan­do will go ahead with­out a com­pe­ti­tion af­ter the San Fer­nan­do Car­ni­val Com­mit­tee an­nounced it can­not af­ford to pay prizes due to a $200,000 short­fall from its 2025 al­lo­ca­tion.

The de­ci­sion was made at a stake­hold­er meet­ing at City Hall on Mon­day, where May­or and com­mit­tee chair­man Robert Par­ris ex­plained that the com­mit­tee had been in dis­cus­sions with the Na­tion­al Car­ni­val Com­mis­sion (NCC) since last Sep­tem­ber. At that time, the NCC had not yet ap­proved a Car­ni­val bud­get, pre­vent­ing the com­mit­tee from host­ing a launch.

“We wait­ed un­til we got an ap­proval, and the ap­proval was $700,000. That is what the phone call was to our co­or­di­na­tor, and when we went up last week to col­lect the first cheque, which is for the in­fra­struc­ture, the let­ter stat­ed $500,000,” Par­ris said.