THIS weekend, Europe's biggest street party is back with a whir of colour, dance and song. It is a spectacle like no other and 2024 is destined to be as emphatic as ever.
The 57th edition of Notting Hill Carnival will begin on Saturday, returning to the streets of west London by way of parades and floats and processions.
Since 1966, carnival has been a celebration of British Caribbean culture and diversity. The floats always dazzle, performers blaze in glitter and gold, and sound systems reverberate through mouthfuls of jerk chicken and gulps of heady Red Stripe.
Each year, as many as two million people including thousands of tourists descend on W10 to watch mas,soca and calypso and Brazilian band performers, hear steel drums play and follow the three-and-a-half mile parade route.
Today, Notting Hill Carnival is thought to generate as much as £300million for the London economy. But it has never been about the money: when the first was held in 1964, racial tensions in Britain were running high, and carnival was a strength of unity. Fast-forward to 2024 and recent events would suggest such solidarity is as pertinent now as it was then.
The Trinidadian-style festival has always acted as a tonic, a show of togetherness and pride. Today, there is still a way to go as far as true equality is concerned. Carnival brings a convivial party atmosphere above all else and attendees come from all walks of life.
Highlights of the weekend
As is customary, carnival proper is preceded by the UK National Panorama Steel Band Competition, which takes place in Emslie Horniman's Pleasance Park and gets going at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. Organisers say the music "sets the standard for the weekend...watch the sun set, eat Caribbean street food and enjoy the sweet sound of pan while the steel bands get on with the serious business of impressing the judges."
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