Do
you ever feel like dressing up and dancing in the street? Every August bank
holiday weekend the streets of west London come alive with one of the biggest
and most colourful celebrations of life imaginable.
The much-celebrated Notting
Hill Carnival has been partying through west London since 1966 and if you think
that sounds fun, just wait until you experience it!
Carnival!
The
Notting Hill Carnival is one of my favourite events in London. Hundreds,
possibly thousands, of people from the British West Indian community take part
in Europe’s largest street party each year. People from Trinidad, Tobago,
Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, British people with family in these nations and
others take part in carnival, resulting in a fantastic blend of West Indian
music and a great and party atmosphere.
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| Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK |
Dressed
to the nines, in all sorts of elaborate and colourful costumes, partying people
parade, dance, and boogie along the route.
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| Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK |
Some
flit and dance along in super skimpy outfits mostly involving jewelled bikini tops,
thongs and fluff, but often with tremendous feather wings, masks and
headpieces. Other folk cruise more slowly along the parade route encased in gigantic
and impressive structures that catch the eye from miles away.
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| Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK |
Wine
ya body!
Hundreds
of floats, often representing community groups, ply the route blasting out
reggae, soca and steel band music so lively you can’t help but smile and bop along
as they pass. Words really can’t explain how much fun it is. Check out this
video to see what I mean.
Musicians
play as they parade past and parade participants dance their way along the
route, often interacting with the crowd and posing for photos. There is such a
sense of joy in the air that I feel high on happiness whenever I’m in the
crowd. Here’s another video(!)
The
parade follows a long route around several west London neighbourhoods and the
music can be heard several blocks away, so it’s easy to know when you’re
getting close to the parade.
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| Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK |
Beyond
the parade
Furthering
the merriment, the carnival route is lined with vendors selling rum cocktails and
Red Stripes (Jamaican beer). Food stands sell Caribbean specialties like jerk
chicken, rotis and goat curry. There are also stands selling West Indian flags
and accessories like hats and whistles so you can join in with the partying!
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| Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK |
Getting
there and away
The
carnival involves lots of road closures and some London Underground stations
are exit-only during carnival to ease pedestrian traffic. This is an event
where it is really worth deciding your arrival and departure route before
making the trip. Best to check information in newspapers and on Transport for
London’s website.
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| Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK |
If
you’re heading to an airport from the Notting Hill area at any time during the
bank holiday weekend (the last weekend in August) I suggest taking a London airport transfer, from somewhere well away from the parade, as local public
transport options will be super busy from Friday through until the end of
Monday.
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| Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK |
