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Listen up, Londoners! A paradise of steel pans, soca beats and booming reggae bass is just a few days away. That’s right, Notting Hill Carnival 2024 is taking place this weekend. Transforming the streets of west London into a parade of feathers, sequins and flags from across the Caribbean, the Bank Holiday spectacle is a vivid highlight in the capital’s summer calendar.
While the traditional J’Ouvert has been cancelled for this year’s event, there’s plenty more to look forward to – from soundsystems to floats surrounded by bedazzling performers. But what’s the history of Carnival? How did it start, and what shaped it into the spectacular celebration it is today?
Here’s everything you need to know about the history of Notting Hill Carnival before this weekend’s celebrations get started.
When and why did the Notting Hill Carnival start?
A celebration of London’s Caribbean community, Notting Hill Carnival has been taking place for more than 50 years.
Although the ‘official’ Notting Hill Carnival was organised by Rhuane Laslett and Andre Shervington in 1966, the origins of the annual celebration began in 1959 over in north London. Following a period of racial tensions in the capital that resulted in the Notting Hill race riots of 1958, Claudia Jones – a.k.a ‘the mother of Notting Hill Carnival’ – organised a Caribbean Carnival at St Pancras Town Hall in January 1959 complete with calypso singers, steel bands and a Carnival Queen competition.
It was the celebrations in 1966, however, that shaped what Notting Hill Carnival has come to be known for today, with Trinidadian musician Russel Henderson leading a procession through west London’s streets.
By the 1970s, soundsystems became a permanent fixture at the celebrations thanks to Duke Vin, Count Shelly and Count Suckle, and in 1975, Notting Hill Carnival celebrated its tenth edition.
Aside from two virtual celebrations during the pandemic, Carnival has taken place every year since. Whether it’s honouring the Caribbean community that came to call Notting Hill home following the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush in 1948, platforming pioneering figures in Black British music or remembering those that lost their lives in the nearby Grenfell tragedy, Carnival has continued to be both a cultural celebration and an act of resistance, resilience and solidarity.
You can find a more detailed history of Notting Hill Carnival here.
What is the schedule for Notting Hill Carnival 2024?
The official celebrations begin on Saturday (August 24) at Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park with Panorama, which is the UK’s national steel band competition and takes place from 4pm til midnight.
Starting at 10am on Sunday (August 25) Carnival’s family day will take place complete with an opening ceremony on Great Western Road from 10am to 10.30am and Carnival Parade which ends at 5pm. The Bank Holiday Monday fun will get going from 10.30am, with the adult day Carnival Parade commencing at 8:30pm.
Soundsystems will be playing on both days from midday, but the sound curfew in place means they’ll have to wrap up at 7pm. But fear not, there’s plenty of afterparties you can head to if you feel like carrying on in the Carnival spirit. Here’s a guide to some of the soundsystems that will be playing this year.
You can read the full Time Out guide to Carnival here, and make sure you check out the event map.
Carnival with Time Out
From smoky jerk chicken to tender mutton curry, Levi Roots has you covered when it comes to finding the best food at Carnival and here’s some snaps for Carnival outfit inspo. Want to know what Carnival was like back in the day? We also interviewed Mas Band founder Allyson Williams about her first Notting Hill Carnival in 1975.
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