We are proud of our Notting Hill Carnival!
The Notting Hill Carnival embodies celebration and as Europe’s biggest street festival you are to expect explosions of colour, Soca and Calypso music, food stalls from a mix of different cultures and a strong Afro-Caribbean theme that encapsulates steel bands. It takes place in the streets of West London over the August Bank Holiday (Sunday 25th – Monday 26th August 2013) and the best bit? It is free to attend! Incredible costumes and entertainment cover every street corner and beautiful decorative floats with performers create a striking spectacle. Music is at the core of the Notting Hill Carnival and is as diverse as the people who attend, with an eclectic list of reggae beats, electro, funk, latin-jazz, house, R&B, even dubstep. These genres generate a clash of music from traditional to contemporary, with over 40 static sound systems located across the festival! Stars as big as Eddie Grant, Wyclef Jean, Jamiroquai, Lily Allen, Ms Dynamite and many other groups plan to be catering to your musical needs.
This event was first held in 1964 and originated as a way for the Afro-Caribbean communities to revere their own traditions and culture. The Caribbean carnivals of the 19th century, a strong tradition in Trinidad, were about celebrating the dissolution of slavery. The first Notting Hill Carnival was held as a way to display the steel band instrumentalists and to show them parading through the streets of West London. Through these parades, the attention of the festival was brought especially to local black residents and began to draw people from diverse backgrounds to the festival. This carnival reminded them of their very own culture, with the festival bringing together different people to celebrate their common heritage, which now has over 2 million people from all over the world joining in year after year for this amazing London event!
With all this vibrancy, a dash of spices and flames rising from open stoves erupt to lure in customers to taste the food of other lands – jerk chicken bing a classic dish as well as the unusual taste of curried goat. Also Jamaican patties, curries, fried plantain and rum punch are tasters for the exotic array of cuisines that the festival harbours.
The Carnival began today (Sunday 25th). This is subsequently followed by the main parade which begins the next day on Bank Holiday Monday when it continues into the evening followed by after-parties and festivities.
London public transport using the Underground is the best way to attend the Notting Hill Carnival, but do allow enough time for travel, as carnival weekend will incur delays due to the traffic and the sheer number of people who go to the festival. You can find out more about the carnival itself and about transport on the links below, respectively:
www.thenottinghillcarnival.com | www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/transportaccessibility/
Written by Jacqueline Du’ven
