The history of the Notting Hill Carnival in London

The Carnival is one of the largest and most vibrant annual Afro-Caribbean cultural events in London, spanning three days that take place on the streets of the neighborhood during the August bank holiday weekend. With its roots in the celebration of Caribbean culture, the carnival attracts thousands of people who take to the streets of Notting Hill, turning the neighborhood into a true melting pot of colors, rhythms, and flavors. The main attraction is the grand parade, where participants wear traditional costumes and dance to the sounds of drums and Caribbean music broadcasted by sound systems along the route. The event is predominantly free, allowing everyone to participate and enjoy the festivities, as well as to sample typical foods and rum cocktails offered by street vendors.

Although many associate the carnival exclusively with Brazil, the Notting Hill Carnival shows that this global celebration also has a vibrant version in the land of the Queen. Incredibly, even samba is part of the festivities, highlighting the cultural diversity of the event. However, despite the similarities with the Brazilian carnival, Notting Hill has developed its own style of celebration over the years, becoming one of the largest and most fascinating cultural and ethnic events in all of Europe.

The Notting Hill neighborhood, located in the Kensington and Chelsea area, is known for its rich and diverse history, being home to many immigrants since the early last century. In particular, Jamaicans and other Caribbean peoples who settled in the area brought with them their traditions and customs, including their carnival celebrations. Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, and Jamaica are passionate about carnival, and this passion has been transported to the streets of London. Thus, Notting Hill became a new cultural hub for these communities, and the carnival is a vibrant expression of that heritage.

The Notting Hill Carnival takes place in the London summer, in August, unlike the Brazilian carnival, which occurs in February. This is because the climatic conditions of the English winter are not suitable for a street party with costumes and parades. Therefore, the celebrations have been adapted for the summer when the temperatures are milder, ensuring that the event can take place outdoors.

The origin of the Notting Hill Carnival, like that of other carnival celebrations around the world, is linked to ancient pagan festivities that celebrated fertility. With the influence of Christianity in Europe, these celebrations were adapted to Catholic beliefs and began to take place as part of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and sacrifice before Easter. However, the Notting Hill carnival over time distanced itself from its religious roots, becoming a cultural celebration that does not follow the traditional Lent calendar, being held in August.

Despite the many similarities with the Brazilian carnival, the Notting Hill Carnival has its own characteristics. The event takes place over a shorter period, focusing on a single weekend. During this time, the streets fill with people from all social classes, styles, and backgrounds, all united by the joy of the occasion. Music and parties are constant, and most of the activities are free and accessible to the public.

One of the great curiosities for those interested in the Notting Hill Carnival is to understand how it compares to the Brazilian carnival. Although Caribbean influences are predominant, samba also has a prominent place in the event. The Brazilian community in London has always been large and active, and many Brazilians have joined the festivities, founding samba schools and actively participating in the parades. The London School of Samba, for example, is one of the most traditional and oldest in the event, and has hosted various Rio and São Paulo samba schools to perform at the London carnival.

Besides samba, the Notting Hill Carnival is a true musical melting pot. The festival features a huge diversity of rhythms, with an emphasis on Caribbean sounds, such as mento, calypso, and reggae. The so-called Jamaican Sound Systems are set up outdoors, providing dances that last until the early hours, with the bass from the speakers resonating through the streets.

Another interesting feature of the Notting Hill Carnival is that, although there are parades of costumes and floats, there is no competition between them, as occurs in the Rio or São Paulo carnival.

THE BEGINNING

The carnival in England was founded by Claudia Jones, a black activist and journalist from Trinidad and Tobago. It happened in 1959, in an attempt to uplift the British black community after the racial riots in Notting Hill, which took place between August 29 and September 5, 1958. She is often referred to as "the mother of the Notting Hill Carnival" and the event in 1959 took place indoors and was even broadcast by the BBC.

It was not until 1966 that it was held outdoors and was inspired by the hippie “free school” in London. This event was proposed by Rhaune Laslett, who was unaware of the events held indoors when she suggested the idea.

Duke Vin is credited as a co-founder of the Notting Hill Carnival for bringing the first sound system to the UK in 1955, when he clandestinely arrived on a ship from Jamaica, in addition to bringing what is considered the first sound system to the Notting Hill Carnival in 1973 - which paved the way for the various soundsystems that operate at the carnival today.

He became a legend in Ladbroke Grove and had a significant influence on the popularization of reggae and ska in Britain, performing at the Carnival with his sound system - "Duke Vin the Tickler's" - every year from the foundation until his death in 2012.

The Notting Hill Carnival became a large festival in 1975 when it was organized by a young teacher, Leslie Palmer - who was director from 1973 to 1975 and is credited with securing sponsorships, recruiting more steel bands, reggae groups, and sound systems. He encouraged the tradition of masquerading, and for the first time in 1973, bands in costumes and steel bands from various Caribbean islands participated in the street parade, along with the introduction of stationary sound systems - which created the bridge between the two cultures of carnival, reggae, and calypso.

In 1976, the event became much larger, with about 150,000 people participating. Today, Notting Hill is a cultural institution, attracting up to two million participants and 40,000 volunteers every year. However, its future is constantly under threat, as it is held annually with very little government funding.

The history of the Notting Hill Carnival represents the resilience and cultural diversity of the communities in London. Despite political pressures, the Notting Hill Carnival has grown and thrived, representing a space for challenge and community cohesion.

THE TRADITION OF CARNIVAL

The development of Carnival in the Caribbean, especially on the island of Trinidad, can be traced back to the period of slavery and the Mardi Gras masquerade balls held before Lent by French plantation owners. Enslaved Africans were prohibited from attending these balls and developed their own festival, based on African dance traditions, which satirized slave owners through masks and songs. After the full emancipation of enslaved Africans in 1838, many free men and women took to the streets and continued these traditions.

After the 1940s, more than 300,000 people from the Caribbean settled in Britain. And in the 1950s, Brixton and Notting Hill had the largest Caribbean population in the country. During this period, Notting Hill was also the site of a far-right movement that galvanized the local working-class white population to "Keep Britain White."

ATTACKS ON BLACK COMMUNITIES

In 1958 and 59, under the slogan "Keep Britain White," attacks began on the black communities of Notting Hill, London, and Nottingham, culminating in the death of carpenter Kelso Cochrane, who was born in Antigua.

In response to these attacks and the rising tensions, activist Claudia Jones, founder of the West Indian Gazette newspaper, organized a Caribbean Carnival at St. Pancras Town Hall on January 30, 1950. It was conceived as a way to show solidarity and strength within the growing Caribbean communities and to ease ongoing tensions.

Inspired by Claudia Jones's carnival, Trinidadian couple Edric and Pearl Connor organized a series of similar events in indoor venues in London during the 1960s until 1964 and the premature death of Claudia Jones. Later, in 1966, community activists Rhaune Laslett and Andre Shervington organized a street festival aimed at entertaining the local children and also trying to relieve ongoing tensions. To encourage participation from the local Caribbean community, renowned Trinidadian musician Russell Henderson agreed to participate and transformed the festival into a carnival with the introduction of a procession and the use of the steel pan.

Although the event was not directly related to the indoor carnival of Claudia, many of the elements were utilized in the street festival - such as the steel bands and other elements of Caribbean carnival. This event marked the beginning of the Notting Hill Carnival.