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On the August Bank Koliday weekend each year, more than 2 million people flock to the streets of W10 and W11, tinnies in hand, to celebrate Notting Hill Carnival.
It has been three painfully long years since Carnival has been allowed to take to the streets, but the event will make a mammoth return this year with one very special addition.
Carnival’s first-ever electric float will join the iconic parade this August. In partnership with Spotify, organisers have pioneered the float as part of a mission to make Carnival greener. The plan is to eventually replace the original petrol and diesel float trucks with a shiny new fleet of e-floats. The prototype, a fully-fledged vehicle equipped with an outstanding soundsystem, was trialled at this year’s Glastonbury Festival with great success.
Mathew Phillip, Carnival’s CEO exclusively told Time Out: ‘The electric float was a huge success at Glastonbury. We’re very pleased and we’ve tested it to check it can reach the sound qualities that we need and last the distance and time.
‘We really believe the electric vehicles are going to be the future of Carnival, not only from an environmental point of view, these vehicles are a lot safer,’ he said.
The vehicle uses a battery from emission-free, solar-powered company called Green Voltage. Since thousands of people parade alongside the petrol-powered floats each year – inhaling fumes as they follow the route – lowering the parade’s emissions will make the event much safer for its attendees. But Carnival can’t do this alone. Partnerships with the likes of Spotify and Samsung have allowed Carnival to grow its development fund that invests in projects that make it even better. The hundreds of people that take part in Carnival each year, as dancers, musicians, DJs and organisers, often have to use their own money to pay for the hire of costumes, vehicles and much more, due to the lack of established funding.
‘We’re looking for more partners so we can roll out the 100 vehicles we need to replace the entire Carnival fleet,’ said Philip. ‘Our aim is to provide that to the communities in the bands, free of charge. We want to remove that huge financial burden. We want to go in a greener direction.’
Can’t wait a month for Carnival to begin? Us neither. Check out our 2022 Carnival guide while you prepare your outfit and practise those rusty dance moves in the mirror.
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