A last-ditch plea is being made for cash for this year’s Cowley Road Carnival after organisers lost out on their biggest application for funding.

Last night, the Arts Council said the carnival missed out on a £50,000 grant as organisers were unable to confirm all the artists involved in the event, which attracts about 30,000 people.

There are fears the carnival may not go ahead on both Cowley Road and South Park as the lost sum is a third of the total budget needed to stage the event across two sites.

Last month, the newly-named Cowley Road Works charity pledged to return the East Oxford carnival to its spiritual home as part of a two-day celebration in July – provided it can raise the cash.

Trustee Junie James said: “This is a massive dent in our funding plans. Everything hinged on that money from an artistic point of view, such as the procession and the colourful costumes.

“It’s crucial we get financial backing now if we’re to get anywhere near meeting the shortfall that we’re now presented with.

“We really need the support of individuals in the community, businesses in the Cowley Road, and elsewhere.

“Every year, the carnival is touch and go financially, but this year for the first time we really need that money or we’ll have to trim everything back.”

Carnival organisers have pledged there will be an event of some sort.

In November, Cowley Road Works launched an appeal to raise £25,000 from Cowley Road traders to help stage the event.

So far it has received only £1,000 from businesses, despite guarantees the money will be used only for an event on Cowley Road.

Lance Cowan, who runs the James Street Tavern, is hosting a 12-hour fundraiser of comedy, live music and food tomorrow which he hopes will net £1,000.

The 28-year-old said: “This is a major blow.

“I sincerely hope someone or lots of people will step in to save it because we need it in the summer.

“I hope this isn’t the last straw because I’m pretty sure the carnival will go ahead but in the park, because it pays for itself.

“The worry is that in the long-term it may stop happening on the road and that would be a bigger blow.”

Rebecca Ball, the acting director of arts at the Arts Council in the South East, said: “Cowley Road Carnival creates high-quality arts experiences for people across Oxford, which is why we have supported the event for many years.

“At the time of applying for funding for this year’s carnival, the organisers were unable to confirm all of the artists that would be involved and, as a result, we were unable to make an award.”

So far, organisers have secured £7,500 from the city council and hope to raise a further £25,000 with a ticket-entry concert in South Park the night before the carnival on Saturday, July 3.

A further £7,500 has also been pledged by the East Area Parliament but only on the proviso that the Cowley Road is closed for one day of a proposed two-day event.

Cowley Road Works trustee Euton Daley said: “Carnival will happen but I can’t say it will happen on both sites now.”

A decision on what will happen to this year’s carnival will be made at a meeting of trustees on Wednesday, April 14.