THE NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL

The Notting Hill Carnival is one of the world’s most popular festivals. It takes place every year in August in the streets of London. The very first festival was held in 1964 and it became traditional. It is an important cultural event for London’s Afro Caribbean community. It is also a good way to emphasize multi-cultural British life. 

It is the second largest street party of the world after the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest in Europe, though. Hundreds of thousands of people fill the large streets of London and they dance to the rhythm of drums. London’s metropolitan police watch over them during the party in case of trouble.

The carnival tradition began a long time ago in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It started as a way to celebrate the ending of slavery. Since it was brought to England by the immigrants in 1960s, it has changed a lot and evolved to its current form. It is still held mainly by the Indian community, but these days, people of all ages, from various backgrounds and communities participate in and contribute to the multi-cultural atmosphere of the carnival.

The carnival costumes are ornate and colourful. Preparations for the event may take up to a year. Since it is a costly event to organize, organizers raise money from sponsors to fund it. Organizers are mostly volunteers.

About 40 different types of music are played at the carnival to highlight the diverse, multi-cultural nature of it. It lasts for two days. Day one is the family day – usually very young children are brought to the carnival area by their parents. The second day is usually more suitable for teenagers and older individuals.