THERE'S only one thing which seems to rattle round with as much rapidity as the annual carnival in Worcester's civic calendar, and that's the voicing of fears that, unless the public support it, they'll lose it.

Last year, the 11th hour had almost come and gone when the number of procession floats hit a dozen, a far cry from the heyday of 1976, when 96 displays toured the streets.

However, it will still be remembered as a sun-filled street celebration of the community, even if it did peter out into an unplanned, undignified lockout at the gates to Pitchcroft's Arts 200 Millennium festival.

This year's different, though - because there'll be no 11th hour in 2001. Instead, unless interest is declared in the shape of committed entries, the parade will have been cancelled by this time next week.

We hope it won't come to that. Over the years, too much has been devoted by a handful of people - the Mike Dandeys and Trevor Smiths of this world - to make that acceptable.

We do believe, however, that the predicament re-emphasises why it's time for the great and the good in the Faithful City to use the latest crisis and take stock.

The city's ambition in bringing the carnival and arts festival together last year wasn't misguided, even if the organisation was.

But it illustrated that Worcester needs to step up a gear, as a community, if it's to achieve the potential of events in years to come.

For some years, we've dreamed of a summer Proud to be Worcester celebration, embracing events as diverse as those which graced the 1999 Three Choirs Fringe and this week's Just Bin It anti-litter campaign.

To do that, however, it's time for the city council to build a team devoted to organising and overseeing public events, drawing on a vast army of volunteers, and guaranteeing Glovemakers young and old a yearly calendar of days to remember.