Notting Hill Carnival returns to London streets after hiatus

London, Aug. 29 (BUS): The annual Notting Hill Carnival is back on the streets of London for the first time since 2019, with more than one million people expected to take part in Europe’s music, parades, dance and food shows. The biggest street party is on Sunday and Monday.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the carnival, which celebrates Caribbean culture at the end of August each year, had to be held online for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The history of the carnival dates back to 1958, when Trinidad human rights activist Claudia Jones began organizing a rally to unite the community after a series of racially motivated attacks on West Indians in Notting Hill, west London.

The event has evolved from a festival that attracts hundreds of people to a huge annual street party, with tens of thousands of performers in color parade and over 30 sound systems.

The festivities began on Saturday night, with more than 1,000 people gathering to watch a steel band competition in west London.

Crowds of young children danced in the streets with their parents on Sunday, a more traditional, family-friendly day than Monday. Some children stood on their doorsteps, waving Jamaican flags.

Baby Francis heads up the Ebony Steelband Trust, which has been performing at the carnival for decades.

“Since I started the band, I’m my fifth generation and there have been a lot of changes,” he said. “But our members look forward to the carnival every year and the training is done regularly from year to year.”

“A lot of people were waiting for him to come back,” Francis added.

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