Notting Hill Diary

[ about carnival | the parade | the food | history of carnival ]

A celebration of the best of London

Notting Hill Carnival has grown from humble beginnings in the late 50s to become the second biggest street party in the world. Held over the long weekend of every August (this year, 2008, it falls on the weekend of August 23-25), its eclectic and vibrant mix of cultures is a celebration of all that is great about London. If you visit London at the end of August, you must come down and party at Carnival!

Music

At the heart of Carnival is the music. Traditionally this has meant calypso music and indeed, that is still the mainstay of the floats, but since the 70s, massive sound systems have set themselves up on street corners serving up just about every variety of party related music known. It’s impossible to list them all because they change as tastes change, but you’re always guaranteed a healthy dose of reggae (of all flavours) ska (courtesy of Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues), disco, funk and soul (Norman Jay’s “Good Times” sound system takes care of that) and whatever the rave du jour happens to be at the time.

And that’s not even to mention the live acts on several stages, large and small around the Carnival area. In previous years acts have played (and I make no personal judgements here!) have included Aswad, Eddie Grant, Courtney Pine, Jamiroquai (I told you I’m not being judgemental) and Pink Floyd (yes, honestly, at a very early one).

These are, of course, my opinion only. Let me know if yours differs and we’ll make adjustments as we go along.