Notting Hill Carnival

{{Infobox recurring event

| name = Notting Hill Carnival

| image = Notting Hill Carnival 2018 (3).jpg

| caption = Mas dancer, Notting Hill Carnival 2018

| frequency = Annually – August Bank Holiday weekend

| location = Ladbroke Grove, London, England

| years_active = 1966–present

| founders = Claudia Jones, Rhaune Laslett, Leslie Palmer, Duke Vin

| genre = Carnival

| attendance = 2 million attendees, 40,000 volunteers and 9,000 police[https://www.timeout.com/london/music/50-things-you-didnt-know-about-notting-hill-carnival "50 things you didn't know about Notting Hill Carnival"], Time Out, 13 July 2016.

| capacity =

| last = {{start date|2024|8|24|df=y}} – {{end date|2024|8|26|df=y}}

| next = {{start date|2025|8|23|df=y}} – {{end date|2025|8|25|df=y}}

| website = {{url|nhcarnival.org}}

}}

The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean Carnival event that has taken place in London since 1966[http://www.thelondonnottinghillcarnival.com/about.html "About us"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520205326/http://www.thelondonnottinghillcarnival.com/about.html |date=20 May 2015 }}, Notting Hill Carnival '13, London Notting Hill Enterprises Trust. on the streets of the Notting Hill area of Kensington, over the August Bank Holiday weekend.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/blackhistory/years/1965.shtml BBC – 1Xtra – Black History: "What happened in 1965"]. Retrieved 17 March 2012.

It is led by members of the British Caribbean community, and attracts around two million people annually, making it one of the world's largest street festivals, and a significant event in British African Caribbean and British Indo-Caribbean culture.Shiv Malik, [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/aug/28/notting-hill-carnival-peaceful-start "Notting Hill carnival gets off to a peaceful start"], The Guardian, 28 August 2011. In 2006, the UK public voted it onto a list of icons of England.{{cite news|title=New icons of Englishness unveiled|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4952920.stm|work=BBC News|issue=27 April 2006|date=10 June 2015}}

Carnival traditionally commences on the Saturday with Panorama, a competition between steelpan bands. Sunday is designated family and children's day, with a shorter parade route for young people. The main adult parade takes place on Monday.{{cite web|url=https://nhcarnival.org/carnival-info|title=Carnival Information - Notting Hill Carnival|work=Nhcarnival.org}}{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8197000/8197974.stm|title=BBC - London - Carnival comes to town|work=BBC News|date=14 August 2009}} Notting Hill Carnival represents the 'five disciplines of carnival': masquerade, calypso, soca, steelpan, and sound systems.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/07/25/carnival_disciplines_feature.shtml|title=BBC - London - Entertainment - 5 Disciplines Of Carnival|work=BBC London|date=25 July 2005}}{{cite magazine|title=Notting Hill Carnival Official Programme 1994|date=August 1994|publisher=Notting Hill Carnival|url=https://archive.org/details/notting-hill-carnival-official-programme-1994|magazine=Internet Archive}}

History

The origin of Notting Hill Carnival can be traced to a number of roots.Jamie Clifton, [https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/notting-hill-carnival-book-ishmahil-blagrove-214 "Things You Never Knew About Carnival"], Vice, 21 August 2014.

A "Caribbean Carnival" was held on 30 January 1959 in St Pancras Town Hall as a response to the problematic state of race relations at the time; the UK's first widespread racial attacks, the Notting Hill race riots in which 108 people were charged,{{cite news|title=After 44 years secret papers reveal truth about five nights of violence in Notting Hill|author=Alan Travis|date=24 August 2002|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=29 August 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/aug/24/artsandhumanities.nottinghillcarnival2002}} had occurred the previous year. This was organised by the Trinidadian journalist and activist Claudia Jones, often described as "the mother of the Notting Hill Carnival"{{cite news |last1=Onibada |first1=Ade |title=Remembering Claudia Jones |url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/remembering-claudia-jones |access-date=19 February 2019 |work=www.voice-online.co.uk |publisher=The Voice |date=20 August 2014 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823101128/https://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/remembering-claudia-jones|archivedate=23 August 2014}} in her capacity as editor of influential black newspaper The West Indian Gazette, and directed by Edric Connor. It showcased elements of a Caribbean carnival in a cabaret style. It featured the Mighty Terror singing the calypso "Carnival at St Pancras", The Southlanders, Cleo Laine, the Trinidad All Stars and Hi–fi steel bands dance troupe, finishing with a Caribbean Carnival Queen beauty contest and a Grand Finale Jump-Up by West Indians who attended the event.{{cite book |last1=Vague |first1=Tom |title=Getting it Straight in Notting Hill Gate: A West London Psychogeography Report |date=2012 |publisher=Bread and Circuses Publishing |isbn=978-1-62517-202-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2xvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT227 |access-date=19 February 2019 |language=en}}

The first outside event in Notting Hill was in August 1966, a hippie London Free School-inspired festival organised by Rhaune Laslett,{{cite news |last1=Oswald |first1=Janelle |title=Notting Hill's carnival roots |url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/notting-hill%E2%80%99s-carnival-roots |access-date=19 February 2019 |work=www.voice-online.co.uk |publisher=The Voice |date=25 August 2013 |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Busby |first1=Margaret |title=The Notting Hill carnival has an unsung hero – Rhaune Laslett |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/24/notting-hill-carnival-unsung-hero-rhaune-laslett |website=The Guardian |access-date=19 February 2019 |date=24 August 2014 |quote=In collaboration with the London Free School [..] Laslett was instrumental in bringing about Notting Hill’s first multicultural street festival in 1966}}Davina Hamilton, [http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/yes-notting-hill-carnivals-50th-year "'Yes, This Is Notting Hill Carnival's 50th Year'"] ("Debora Alleyne De Gazon, creative director of the London Notting Hill Carnival Enterprises Trust, clears up the confusion about the year the event began"), The Voice, 28 August 2016. who was not aware of the indoor events when she first raised the idea. This festival was a more diverse Notting Hill event to promote cultural unity. A street party for neighbourhood children turned into a carnival procession when Russell Henderson's steel band (who had played at the earlier Claudia Jones events) went on a walkabout.{{cite news |last1=Younge |first1=Gary |author-link1=Gary Younge |title=The politics of partying |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/aug/17/nottinghillcarnival2002.nottinghillcarnival |access-date=19 February 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=17 August 2002 |language=en}} By 1970, "the Notting Hill Carnival consisted of 2 music bands, the Russell Henderson Combo and Selwyn Baptiste's Notting Hill Adventure Playground Steelband and 500 dancing spectators."Michael La Rose, {{Cite web |url=http://www.pan-jumbie.com/uploads/papers/40yearsnhc.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227192143/http://www.pan-jumbie.com/uploads/papers/40yearsnhc.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-12-27 |title=40 Years of the Notting Hill Carnival: An Assessment of the History and the Future }}, July 2004. Submitted to Joseph Charles Media, publishers of Soca News, for August 2004 Notting Hill Carnival edition of Carnival Groove.

Leslie Palmer, who was director from 1973 to 1975, is credited with "getting sponsorship, recruiting more steel bands, reggae groups and sound systems, introducing generators and extending the route."Peter Timothy, [http://iafor.org/archives/offprints/ecah2013-offprints/ECAH2013_0169.pdf "Visionaries, Pioneers, Apostles and Healers: The Contribution of Migrants from Trinidad and Tobago to the Development of Black Britain, 1948 to 1986"]. European Conference on Arts & Humanities, 2013, Proceedings, p. 5. Quoting Tom Vague, 50 Years of Carnival 1959–2009, London: HISTORY talk, 2009, p. 22.Bill Tuckey, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/in-the-beginning-174290.html "In the beginning..."], The Independent, 23 August 2002.[http://www.portobellofilmfestival.com/talkpics/talk-2008carnival-06.html Portobello Film Festival.] He encouraged traditional masquerade, and for the first time in 1973 costume bands and steel bands from the various islands took part in the street parade,Natasha Ofosu, [http://www.socanews.com/articles/article.php?Notting-Hill-Carnival-pioneers-to-be-honoured-655 "Notting Hill Carnival pioneers to be honoured"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222130513/http://www.socanews.com/articles/article.php?Notting-Hill-Carnival-pioneers-to-be-honoured-655 |date=22 December 2015 }}, Soca News, 17 August 2012. alongside the introduction of stationary sound systems, as distinct from those on moving floats,Nabeel Zuberi and Jon Stratton (eds), [https://books.google.com/books?id=zQ2dBQAAQBAJ&q=%22leslie+palmer%22+teach+carnival&pg=PA141 Black Popular Music in Britain Since 1945], Ashgate Publishing, 2014, p. 141.Jamie Clifton, [https://www.vice.com/read/notting-hill-carnival-book-ishmahil-blagrove-214 "Things You Never Knew About Carnival, London's Best Street Party"], Vice, 21 August 2014. which, as Alex Pascall has explained, "created the bridge between the two cultures of carnival, reggae and calypso."Carnival (2014), p. 290. "Notting Hill Carnival became a major festival in 1975 when it was organised by a young teacher, Leslie Palmer." The carnival was also popularised by live radio broadcasts by Pascall on his daily Black Londoners programme for BBC Radio London.

Duke Vin, full name Vincent George Forbes,{{cite news|title=Duke Vin|author=The Telegraph|date=23 November 2012|work=The Telegraph|location=London|access-date=13 October 2021|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/9699576/Duke-Vin.html}} is credited as being a co-founder of Notting Hill Carnival, having brought the first sound system to the United Kingdom in 1955 when he was a stowaway on a ship from Jamaica to the United Kingdom,{{cite news|title=Observations: Duke Vin is the toast of Notting Hill|author=Ian Burrell|date=22 October 2011|work=The Independent|location=London|access-date=13 October 2021|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/observations-duke-vin-is-the-toast-of-notting-hill-1781172.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/observations-duke-vin-is-the-toast-of-notting-hill-1781172.html |archive-date=21 June 2022}} and brought what is thought to be the very first sound system to the Notting Hill Carnival in 1973, which paved the way for the many sound systems that operate at carnival today.{{cite news|title=Rocking the carnival rhythms|author=Colette Hibbert|date=29 August 2009|work=BBC|location=London|access-date=13 October 2021|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8228870.stm}} Duke Vin became a legend in Ladbroke Grove and had a huge influence on the popularisation of reggae and ska in Britain, and played at Notting Hill Carnival with his sound system, "Duke Vin the Tickler's",{{cite news|title=Dub reggae icons of London|author=Jilke Golbach|date=29 July 2020|work=The Museum of London|location=London|access-date=13 October 2021|url=https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/dub-reggae-icons-london}} every year from the year it was founded until his death in 2012.{{cite news|title=Duke Vin: 'Soundman' who brought sound systems to Britain|author=Chris Salewicz|date=21 November 2012|work=The Independent|location=London|access-date=13 October 2021|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/duke-vin-soundman-who-brought-sound-systems-to-britain-8336228.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/duke-vin-soundman-who-brought-sound-systems-britain-8336228.html |archive-date=21 June 2022}}

Emslie Horniman's Pleasance (in the Kensal Green district of the area), has been the carnival's traditional starting point.{{cite web|url=http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/leisureandlibraries/parksandgardens/yourlocalpark/emsliehornimanspleasance.aspx|title=Emslie Horniman's Pleasance|publisher=The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|access-date=3 December 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://london.unlike.net/locations/302607-Emslie-Horniman-s-Pleasance|publisher=unlike.net|title=Emslie Horniman's Pleasance: Enchanted gardens|access-date=3 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724115812/http://london.unlike.net/locations/302607-Emslie-Horniman-s-Pleasance|archive-date=24 July 2011}} Among the early bands to participate were Ebony Steelband and Metronomes Steelband.[http://www.carnivalineducation.com/node/30 "How Carnival was developed in Britain?"], Carnival in Education. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825005447/http://carnivalineducation.com/node/30 |date=25 August 2013 }}. As the carnival had no permanent staff and head office, the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, run by another Trinidadian, Frank Crichlow, came to function as an informal communication hub and office address for the carnival's organisers.{{cite book|author=Abner Cohen|title=Masquerade Politics: Explorations in the Structure of Urban Cultural Movements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Anndpyfilk4C&pg=PA109|access-date=19 August 2011|year=1993|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-07838-3|page=109}}

The 1976 carnival was marred by riots, in which predominantly Caribbean youths fought with police – a target due to the continuous harassment the population felt they were under.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5275542.stm |work=BBC News| author=Emma Griffiths | title=Remembering the Notting Hill riot | date=25 August 2006}} During this period, there was considerable press coverage of the disorder, which some felt took an unfairly negative and one-sided view of the carnival. For a while it looked as if the event would be banned. Prince Charles was one of the few establishment figures who supported the event. Leila Hassan campaigned for Arts Council England to recognise the Notting Hill Carnival as an art form.{{Cite web|title=Revolutionary Black British Women – London Architecture Diary|url=http://architecturediary.org/london/events/12994|access-date=2020-06-06|website=city Architecture Diary|language=en}} Since 1978 the national Panorama competition is held on the Saturday preceding the carnival.{{Cite web |title=2004 UK PANORAMA |url=https://www.carnaval.com/cityguides/london/2004/2004_UK_panorama_.htm |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.carnaval.com}}

Concerns about the size of the event resulted in London's then mayor, Ken Livingstone, setting up a Carnival Review Group to look into "formulating guidelines to safeguard the future of the Carnival".[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/carnival/index.jsp Mayor of London – Notting Hill Carnival Review Group.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129212132/http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/carnival/index.jsp |date=29 January 2009 }} An interim report by the review resulted in a change to the route in 2002. When the full report was published in 2004, it recommended that Hyde Park be used as a "savannah" (an open space to draw crowds away from residential areas),[https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/1782_-_strategic_review_2004.pdf Notting Hill Carnival: A Strategic Review], Greater London Authority, June 2004. though the proposal of such a move attracted concerns, including that the Hyde Park event might overshadow the original street carnival.{{Cite web |url=http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/news/details.aspx?i=1701&c=uk&h=Caribbean+Showcase+vs+Notting+Hill+Carnival%3F |title=Colourful: Weekday Edition |access-date=1 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015042741/http://blackbritain.co.uk/news/details.aspx?i=1701&c=uk&h=Caribbean+Showcase+vs+Notting+Hill+Carnival%3F |archive-date=15 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}Claire Hu, [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/dont-move-carnival-route-6331291.html "'Don't move carnival route'"], London Evening Standard, 10 January 2002.Alice-Azania Jarvis, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-timeline-the-notting-hill-carnival-2063203.html "The Timeline: The Notting Hill Carnival"], The Independent, 26 August 2010.

Aswad's performance at the 1983 Carnival was released as an album Live and Direct.

The Carnival further diversified in 1984 with the appearance of the London School of Samba{{cite web|url=https://www.londonschoolofsamba.co.uk/london-school-of-samba-history/|title=London School of Samba History|work=London School of Samba}} and other samba schools followed in the 1990s.

Sound systems greatly expanded during the 1980s and 1990s, some of the biggest including Channel One, Saxon Sound, Mastermind Roadshow, RapAttack, and Good Times.

In 2003, the Notting Hill Carnival was run by a limited company, the Notting Hill Carnival Trust Ltd. A report by the London Development Agency on the 2002 Carnival estimated that the event contributed around £93 million to the London and UK economy, set against an estimated £6–10 million costs.{{cite web |title=Executive Summary – The economic impact of the Notting Hill carnival |url=http://tfconsultancy.co.uk/reports/nottinghillcarnival.pdf |website=tfconsultancy.co.uk |publisher=London Development Agency – Research | page=9 |access-date=19 February 2019 |date=May 2003}} However, the 2016 residents' survey commissioned by local Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Victoria Borwick found that while 6% of businesses reported an upturn in trade, many others boarded up their shopfronts and lost business due to closure.

In 2015, there was controversy when the Carnival Trust charged journalists £100 to cover the event, and demanded copies of all work produced relating to the event within three weeks of the end of the Carnival.Dominic Ponsford, [http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/journalists-charged-100-to-cover-notting-hill-carnival-and-told-to-share-work-with-organisers/ "Journalists charged £100 to cover Notting Hill Carnival and told to share work with organisers"], Press Gazette, 19 August 2015. The National Union of Journalists organised a boycott of the event.Ian Burrell, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/notting-hill-carnival-2015-journalists-to-stage-boycott-over-100-accreditation-fee-10471765.html "Notting Hill Carnival 2015: Journalists to stage boycott over £100 accreditation fee"], The Independent, 25 August 2015. In 2016 the charge remained; however, in June 2017, the Carnival's new event management team introduced a revised media policy, with no request for any accreditation fees.[http://www.nottinghillcarnivalguide.com/new-official-media-centre-carnival/ "New Media Policy and Official Media Centre at Carnival"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824051215/http://www.nottinghillcarnivalguide.com/new-official-media-centre-carnival/ |date=24 August 2017 }}, Press release, Notting Hill Carnival Guide, 16 June 2017.Stephen Spark, [http://socanews.com/news/notting-hill-carnival-promises-a-media-makeover/ "Notting Hill Carnival promises a media makeover"], Soca News, 4 July 2017.

In 2016, when the Golden Jubilee of Notting Hill Carnival was celebrated,{{cite news |last1=Hamilton |first1=Davina |title='Yes, this is Notting Hill Carnival's 50th year' |url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/yes-notting-hill-carnivals-50th-year |access-date=19 February 2019 |work=www.voice-online.co.uk |publisher=The Voice |date=28 August 2016 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Notting Hill Carnival celebrates golden jubilee {{!}} Arts Council England |url=http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/notting-hill-carnival-celebrates-golden-jubilee |website=www.artscouncil.org.uk |access-date=19 February 2019 |date=24 August 2016}}{{cite news |title=In pictures: Fifty years of the Notting Hill Carnival |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37024463 |access-date=19 February 2019 |publisher=BBC News |date=28 August 2016}} 42 hours of live video coverage was broadcast by music live-streaming platform Boiler Room from the Rampage, Deviation, Aba Shanti-I, Channel One, Nasty Love, Saxon Sound, King Tubbys, Gladdy Wax and Disya Jeneration soundsystems.{{Cite web|url=http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/boiler-room-to-broadcast-notting-hill-carnival-livestream/|author=Andy Malt|title=Boiler Room to broadcast Notting Hill Carnival livestream |work= Complete Music Update|date= 18 August 2016|access-date=1 September 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/aug/13/live-streaming-festivals-notting-hill-carnival|title=No mud but all the music: fans flock to watch festivals online|last=Reidy|first=Tess|date=13 August 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|issn=0261-3077|access-date=1 September 2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefader.com/2016/08/29/stream-notting-hill-carnival|title=This Is How You Can Stream Notting Hill Carnival Around The World|website=The FADER|author=David Renshaw|date=29 August 2016|access-date=1 September 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://thump.vice.com/en_uk/article/weve-teamed-up-with-boiler-room-and-deviation-to-give-you-a-taste-of-notting-hill-carnival|title=We've Teamed Up with Boiler Room and Deviation to Give You a Taste of Notting Hill Carnival |work= Thump|date=26 August 2016|access-date=1 September 2016}}

The 2020 carnival was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-52577957 |title=Coronavirus: Notting Hill Carnival cancelled due to Covid-19|publisher=BBC News|date=7 May 2020|access-date=7 May 2020}} although free live-streamed events were shown online across four channels.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/16/notting-hill-carnival-2020-details-announced-for-online-version|title=Notting Hill Carnival 2020 details announced for online version|author=Ben Beaumont-Thomas|newspaper=The Guardian|date=16 July 2020}}{{Cite web|title=How to watch the virtual Notting Hill Carnival 2020|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/notting-hill-carnival-2020-virtual-online-how-watch-bank-holiday-lineup-a9693681.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/notting-hill-carnival-2020-virtual-online-how-watch-bank-holiday-lineup-a9693681.html |archive-date=21 June 2022|access-date=2020-09-08|website=www.independent.co.uk|date=30 August 2020 |language=en}} On 18 June 2021, it was announced that the 2021 Carnival would not take place either, due to "ongoing uncertainty and Covid-19 risk".{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/notting-hill-carnival-won-t-take-place-on-streets-covid-lockdown-virtual-b941330.html|title=Notting Hill Carnival 2021: Event will not take place on streets due to 'ongoing uncertainty and Covid-19 risk'|date=18 June 2021|work=Evening Standard}}{{cite web|url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/2021/06/18/notting-hill-carnival-cancelled-for-second-year-in-a-row-due-to-covid-says-organisers/|title=Notting Hill Carnival cancelled for second year in a row due to COVID, says organisers |work=The Voice|date=18 June 2021}}

In 2022, Notting Hill Carnival returned after a two-year hiatus. It started with a run to remember 72 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire from 2017.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-62689586 | title=Notting Hill Carnival returns after two-year absence | date=28 August 2022 | publisher=BBC News |access-date=30 August 2022 }} The 2023 carnival ran from 27–28 August.{{cite web |last1=Altenberg |first1=Michelle |title=Notting Hill Carnival 2023: Everything you need to know |url=https://michellealtenberg.com/london/notting-hill-carnival-2023 |publisher=michellealtenberg.com |access-date=24 August 2023}}

In 2023, Notting Hill Carnival was included in the Vision:2025 programme, a Green Events Code of Practice.[https://nhcarnival.org/updates/vision-2025 Notting Hill Carnival is happy to announce its inclusion in Vision 2025], in Nhcarnival.org, 19 July 2023.

Culture of the carnival

Professor David Dabydeen has stated:

"Carnival is not alien to British culture. Bartholomew Fair and Southwark Fair in the 18th century were moments of great festivity and release. There was juggling, pickpocketing, whoring, drinking, masquerade – people dressed up as the Archbishop of Canterbury and indulged in vulgar acts. It allowed people a space to free-up but it was banned for moral reasons and for the anti-authoritarian behaviour that went on like stoning of constables. Carnival allowed people to dramatise their grievances against the authorities on the street... Notting Hill Carnival single-handedly revived this tradition and is a great contribution to British cultural life."Professor David Dabydeen (August 2010), [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/knowledge/arts/nottinghill "Notting Hill Carnival"], Yesu Persaud Centre for Caribbean Studies, University of Warwick. Retrieved 30 August 2015.

This huge street festival attracts around one million people every year to Notting Hill and highlights Caribbean and Black diasporic cultures. Carnival uses influences from many other festivals around the world. Authors Julian Henriques and Beatrice Ferrara claim the festival draws mainly on the Trinidad Carnival as well as Crop Over, Canadian Caribana in Toronto and the US Labor Day Festival in Brooklyn. They also explain that Notting Hill Carnival is dually influenced by its diasporic cultures and its own country's influences. Henriques and Ferrara claim: "Carnival also has an explosive auditory impact due to its cacophony of sounds, in which soca, steel bands, calypso floats and sound systems mix and mingle in a multi-media and multi-sensory event" (Ferrara 132).{{cite book |last1=Henriques |first1=Julian |author2=Beatrice Ferrara |title=Black Popular Music in Britain Since 1945}}

This mixture of percussion, with emphasis on the beat and rhythm, leads to the extreme dancing in the streets for which Carnival is known, with citizens participating to the beat of the music, using mud and paint, dancing with the lower parts of the body. Henriques and Ferrara explain that people emphasize the "baseness" of the music, with everything being about the "bottom": the ground, the bottom of the body, and the bottom of the beat. The festival uses influences from the Jamaican dancehalls and British clubs, and the music is made loud enough for participants to feel the beat. The vibrations from the speakers allow people to better connect with the ground and bring their experience to another level.{{cite book |last1=Henriques |first1=Julian |author2=Beatrice Ferrara |title=Black Popular Music in Britain Since 1945}}

The authors of the same article further explain how Notting Hill Carnival also creates "territory". The parade route portion of the Carnival is where carnival floats play both recorded and live music and circulate the street, visualizing the boundaries of Carnival and marking its territory. The circulating movement of the Carnival parade is also an extending of space through sound. Territorializing the space through sounds of African beats, such as the pan, fosters a sense of identity and unity for the overall Carnival.Henriques, Julian, and Beatrice Ferrara, "The Sounding of Notting Hill Carnival: Music as Space, Place and Territory."

Artists

Many carnival artists who created costumes and floats for bands and Samba Schools have left their mark, among them: Clary Salandy of Mohogany Carnival,{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66618217 | title=Notting Hill Carnival 2023: Behind the scenes with the top costume makers | work=BBC News | date=27 August 2023 }} Carl Gabriel{{cite magazine | url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-101/carl-gabriel-mas-band-museum#axzz8bXxqSuE8 | title=Carl Gabriel: From mas band to museum |magazine=Caribbean Beat|issue=101|author=David Katz| date=January–February 2010 }}{{Cite web |title=‘I am known as a wire man’: Meet pioneering Notting Hill Carnival sculptor Carl Gabriel |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/news/i-am-known-as-a-wire-man-meet-pioneering-notting-hill-carnival-sculptor-carl-gabriel-082820 |work=Time Out|author=Katie McCabe|date=28 August 2020|access-date=2024-10-25}} and Ray Mahabir.{{cite web | url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1356201/call-the-rain-costume-design-ali-pretty/ | title=Call the Rain |website=V&A| date=1998 }}{{Cite web |title=London's Notting Hill carnival gears up for return amid surging cost of living |url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/londons-notting-hill-carnival-gears-up-return-amid-surging-cost-living-2022-08-26/|author=Farouq Suleiman|author2=Natalie Thomas|date=26 August 2022 |access-date=2024-10-25|agency=Reuters}}

Media coverage

Compared to other major music and art events such as Glastonbury Festival, Notting Hill Carnival has historically struggled to gain any live coverage outside of local media. The majority of carnival live broadcasts have been traditionally on BBC London radio (hitting a peak of coverage in the years of 2003 and 2004), {{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/07_july/24/carnival.shtml|title=BBC – Press Office – Notting Hill Carnival|work=BBC|date=24 July 2003}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/carnival/|title=BBC – London – Carnival 2004|work=BBC|date=31 August 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040831024955/http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/carnival/|archive-date=31 August 2004}} and on BBC Radio 1Xtra in more recent years.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/summer/2010/|title=BBC – Radio 1Xtra – Summer – Home|work=BBC|date=31 August 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07lbtn4|title=BBC – 1Xtra Summer at Notting Hill Carnival|work=BBC|date=26 August 2019}}

Public order

Since the carnival did not have local authority permission, initial police involvement was aimed at preventing it taking place at all, which resulted in regular confrontation and riots. In 1976, the police had been expecting hostility due to what they deemed as trouble the year before. Consequently, after discovering pickpockets in the crowd, police took a heavy-handed approach against the large congregation of black people and it became "no-man's land". The 1600-strong police force violently broke up the carnival, with the arrest of 60 people. In the aftermath of the event, the carnival was portrayed in a very pointed way, with those aiding the riots lumped together as the "trouble-makers" responsible.Sarah Phillips, [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/mar/13/robert-golden-best-photograph "Robert Golden's best photograph: the 1976 Notting Hill carnival riots"], The Guardian, 13 March 2013.

After the 1976 Notting Hill Carnival the Police Federation pressed for the introduction of riot shields to protect police from objects thrown at them, although the shields also had the potential for aggressive use, as in 1977.[https://books.google.com/books?id=rj7TrpWFVjQC&dq=notting+hill+carnival&pg=PA739 "Riot shields – protective or aggressive?"], New Scientist (Vol. 75, No. 1070), 22 September 1977, p. 739.Roger Fowler,

[https://books.google.com/books?id=bX5GAQAAQBAJ&dq=notting+hill+carnival&pg=PA248 Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press], Routledge, 2013, p. 248.Tony Moore, Policing Notting Hill: Fifty Years of Turbulence, Waterside Press, 2013, p. 195.

A change of policy came after a confrontation in 1987, when the carnival was allowed to take place with police adopting a more conciliatory approach. During the 2000 Carnival, two men were murdered; and future policing, while conciliatory, resulted in police deployment in large numbers: upwards of 11,000.

The Mayor of London's Carnival Review Group's report (published in 2004,) led to the parades taking a circular rather than linear route, but a recommendation to relocate the event in Hyde Park has been resisted.Chirag Trivedi, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3593612.stm "Carnival's route to success"], BBC News, 27 August 2004. Some crimes associated with the carnival have taken place on its periphery: in 2007, two teenagers were wounded in separate shooting incidents just outside the carnival area on the Monday evening;Martina Smit, [http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/1646148.Teen_shootings_mar_Notting_Hill_Carnival/ "Teen shootings mar Notting Hill Carnival"], Guardian Series, 28 August 2007. however, police said there had been a decline in the number of carnival-linked arrests in comparison with the previous year.Matthew Moore and agencies, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1561485/Notting-Hill-Carnival-ends-with-boys-shooting.html "Notting Hill Carnival ends with boy's shooting"], The Telegraph, 28 August 2017.

The 2008 Carnival was marred by rioting at the very end of the weekend, involving about 40 youths battling with police, and more than 300 people were arrested.James Orr and agencies, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/aug/26/ukcrime.nottinghillcarnival "Notting Hill carnival ends with police battling troublemakers"], The Guardian, 26 August 2008. The carnival has come under criticism for its cost to the London taxpayer, with the cost of policing the event more than £6,000,000; however, it is argued that this should be put into context since the carnival is estimated to bring approximately £93,000,000 into the local economy.Pav Akhtar,

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1439378/London-cashes-in-on-the-carnival.html "London cashes in on the carnival"], The Daily Telegraph, 21 August 2003,

Although the 2011 Carnival was at risk of being cancelled in the wake of the early August riots in the UK that year,Lloyd Bradley, [http://www.u.tv/articles/article.aspx?cat=news&guid=504fd1e4-3f96-40c9-a235-21258b0c1518 "Don't confuse Notting Hill carnival with the riots"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407070531/http://www.u.tv/articles/article.aspx?cat=news&guid=504fd1e4-3f96-40c9-a235-21258b0c1518 |date=7 April 2014 }}, U TV, 25 August 2011. it was seen as being relatively peaceful. Five people were arrested for a stabbing at Ladbroke Grove.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/30/notting-hill-carnival-arrested-stabbing | location=London | work=The Guardian| author=Caroline Davies | title=Notting Hill carnival: 16-year-old arrested after stabbing | date=30 August 2011}} The victim was one of 86 people who were taken to hospital. In total 245 people were detained by police over the two days of the carnival.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14716306 |work=BBC News| title=Notting Hill Carnival stabbing: Boy among five arrested | date=30 August 2011}}

In recent years, there has been much less serious trouble, and it is generally viewed very positively by the authorities as a dynamic celebration of London's multicultural diversity, though dominated by the Caribbean culture. {{citation needed|date=September 2024}} However, there has been controversy over the public safety aspects of holding such a well-attended event in narrow streets in a small area of London. In 2017, local Conservative MP Victoria Borwick commissioned a survey of Kensington and Chelsea residents, with the Evening Standard reporting that "Nine out of ten residents living along the route of the Notting Hill Carnival flee their homes to escape the 'frightening and intimidating' event."Pippa Crerar, [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/frightening-notting-hill-carnival-drives-residents-from-their-homes-a3287866.html "Notting Hill Carnival is 'frightening and drives residents from their homes'"], London Evening Standard, 5 July 2016.

In 2016 there were over 450 arrests, and five people were hurt in four knife attacks; however, the commander in charge of policing carnival, David Musker, said that the number of arrests had been inflated by the new Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.{{cite web|author=Damien Gayle|title=Notting Hill carnival arrests hit record high|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/aug/30/notting-hill-carnival-arrests-hit-record-high|website=The Guardian|access-date=30 August 2016|date=30 August 2016}} Based on relative attendance figures, it has been said that crime rates for the Notting Hill Carnival and for Glastonbury or other music festivals are comparable,Greg Hurst, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/glastonbury-festival-has-worse-crime-rate-5369222.html "Glastonbury Festival has worse crime rate"], The Independent, 1 September 2000. and Ishmahil Blagrove, co-author of the book Carnival: A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival, states: "Notting Hill Carnival, compared to Trinidad or Brazil, is one of the safest in the world."

A report in 2004 by the GLA Policing Policy Director, Lee Jasper, criticised authorities for not addressing safety issues involved in over a million people attending a small inner-city residential area, quoting the Met Police spokesman Dave Musker, who in November 2016 said: "Each year … we come exceptionally close to a major catastrophic failure of public safety where members of the public will suffer serious injury."Lee Jasper,

[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/25/grenfell-warnings-notting-hill-carnival-safety-ignored "Notting Hill carnival is unsafe. But, like Grenfell, authorities ignore the warnings"], The Guardian, 25 August 2017.

In the three weeks running up to the 2017 event, the police made 656 arrests, a pre-emptive crackdown.Jamie Grierson and Damien Gayle, [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/aug/29/notting-hill-carnival-arrests-down-after-controversial-crackdown "Notting Hill carnival arrests down after controversial crackdown"], The Guardian, 29 August 2017. There were 313 arrests during the two days of the 2017 Carnival, compared with 454 the previous year. On both days, a minute's silence in tribute to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire was observed at 3 pm by the Carnival-goers, many of whom wore "green for Grenfell".Jemma Crew, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/notting-hill-carnival-grenfell-fire-minute-silence-video-victims-tribute-a7917391.html "Notting Hill Carnival pays tribute to Grenfell fire victims with emotional minute silence"], The Independent, 29 August 2017.Lauren Pilat and Natasha Salmon, [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/notting-hill-carnivalgoers-praised-for-grenfell-disaster-response-a3621871.html "Notting Hill Carnival-goers praised for Grenfell disaster response"], London Evening Standard, 29 August 2017.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41072954 "Notting Hill Carnival: Thousands enjoy sound, samba and sun"], BBC News, 29 August 2017.

During the 2018 event, due to the rising levels of violent crime in London, police deployed metal detectors to prevent weapons being brought to the event. During the event, 30 police officers were injured in the line of duty, 36 weapons were confiscated and 373 arrests were made by the Metropolitan Police Service.{{Cite news|url=http://news.met.police.uk/news/met-officers-thank-londoners-for-spectacular-notting-hill-carnival-319222|title=Met officers thank Londoners for spectacular Notting Hill Carnival|publisher=Metropolitan Police|access-date=28 August 2018|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/notting-hill-carnival-grenfell-silence-tribute-2018-tower-fire-honour-victims-a8510331.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/notting-hill-carnival-grenfell-silence-tribute-2018-tower-fire-honour-victims-a8510331.html |archive-date=21 June 2022|title=Over 370 arrests were made at Notting Hill Carnival and one person was stabbed|work=The Independent|author=Tom Barnes|date=27 August 2018|access-date=28 August 2018|language=en-GB}}{{Cite news|url=https://news.sky.com/story/notting-hill-carnival-2018-police-to-use-stop-and-search-powers-in-violence-crackdown-11482561|title=Notting Hill Carnival 2018: Police to use stop and search powers in violence crackdown|first=Lucia|last= Binding|work=Sky News|date=26 August 2018|access-date=28 August 2018|language=en-GB}}

Since 1987 there have been eight deaths related to violence at carnival: Michael Augustine Galvin (23) on 30 August 1987,{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/police-informer-is-jailed-for-perjury-over-knife-murder-testimony-led-to-mans-life-sentence-for-killing-of-stallholder-at-1987-notting-hill-carnival-1482349.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/police-informer-is-jailed-for-perjury-over-knife-murder-testimony-led-to-mans-life-sentence-for-killing-of-stallholder-at-1987-notting-hill-carnival-1482349.html |archive-date=21 June 2022|location=London |work=The Independent |title=Police informer is jailed for perjury over knife murder: Testimony led to man's life sentence for killing of stallholder at 1987 Notting Hill Carnival | date=2 July 1993}} Nicholas John Hanscomb (38) on 26 August 1991,[http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2001/08/25/6012706.Carnival_victim_s_killer_still_being_hunted/ "Carnival victim's killer still being hunted"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422025800/http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2001/08/25/6012706.Carnival_victim_s_killer_still_being_hunted/ |date=22 April 2014 }}, This Is Lancashire, 25 August 2001. Greg Fitzgerald Watson (21) on 28 August 2000,[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/967787.stm "Carnival murder footage released"], BBC News, 11 October 2000. Abdul Munam Bhatti (28) on 28 August 2000,[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/911242.stm "'Racial motive' for carnival murder"], BBC News, 5 September 2000.{{cite web|author=Paul Cheston|title=Gang jailed for carnival rampage|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/gang-jailed-for-carnival-rampage-6303924.html|website=London Evening Standard|access-date=31 August 2016|date=2 May 2002}} Lee Christopher Surbaran (27) on 30 August 2004,Alex Galbinski, [http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/619004.gang_trio_jailed_for_murder/ "Gang trio jailed for murder"], The Times Series (Newsquest), 2 August 2005. Takayo Nembhard (also known as rapper TKorStretch, 21) on 29 August 2022 and two deaths during NHC 2024 - a 32-year-old female who was stabbed and a 41-year-old male who was assaulted.{{cite web |title=Notting Hill Carnival: Man, 21, dies after being stabbed in crowd in 'night of violence' |date=30 August 2022 |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-notting-hill-carnival-man-27862438 |access-date=30 August 2022 |work=Mirror UK}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62719530 | title=Notting Hill Carnival: Rapper Takayo Nembhard stabbed to death | date=30 August 2022 | publisher=BBC News |access-date=31 August 2022 }}

During the 2024 Festival, 334 people were arrested and eight people were stabbed, with three left with life-threatening conditions.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-27 |title=Eight people including mother stabbed at Notting Hill Carnival with 334 arrested |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/notting-hill-carnival-stabbing-met-police-london-b2602290.html |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=The Independent |language=en}} Two people died following two separate attacks during the carnival.{{Cite web |title=Notting Hill Carnival: Mum and chef die after separate attacks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70jd57rx8jo |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB|author=Thomas Mackintosh|date=31 August 2024}}

Despite its reputation for crime, Notting Hill Carnival arrests as a proportion of attendance is comparable to many other large events and festivals in the UK.{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/notting-hill-carnival-arrest-rates-same-as-glastonbury_uk_5d5d1d18e4b063487e9519d5|title=Notting Hill Carnival: New Data Reveals Crime Should Not Be The Story Of The Weekend|work=Huffington Post|date=24 August 2019|author=Emma Youle}}