Brown Girl in London

Notting Hill Carnival

It's Tuesday and the long weekend is done. It's not just the end of a nice few days off but it also signals the end of summer. Although for me that doesn't really hold the same connotations as it used to like going back to school, back to work, etc. "Temporary worker living in London with the aim of travel" doesn't really hold the same weight.

Anyway.

This weekend was the famous Notting Hill Carnival, purported to be Europe's largest carnival and indeed it was very, very big! I think the news said there were over 1 million people there and from what I saw it was probably true. Yesterday we went to Notting Hill to check out the parade. Took the tube and got off at Westbourne Park or Grove, I can't remember, met up with some other folks and started walking and walking and walking. I think we walked for about 5 hours in total.

The parade route ran in a circle and along the connecting streets inside this circle were soundsystems (live music performances) and food stalls set-up, so it was like a series of smaller fetes going on inside the one big one. We stopped at a few and listened to the tunes but I didn't get anything to eat, it was just too much bother!

We finally made our way to the parade route, I think we were on the main strip on Ladbroke Grove, and the crowd was fairly thick. So from the barricades to where I was standing I couldn't see very much since I'm short. We tried to walk through the people but it was ridiculously crowded so we all turned around and I think most of us were a little fed up at the commotion.

People everywhere!

More walking.

Then luckily, we found a much less crowded area and was able to watch some of the parade, saw some colourful neat costumes and heard some good music, and that was about it. I had fun for the few hours I was there and there was no way I was not going to go to this event that I've heard so much about. I wonder if the people who live there stay every year or go away? Some of the homes capitalized off the event by charging a £1 to use their toilets and selling their own food. One house even set up their own soundsystem in their front window.

Home cooked meals

Overall everyone seemed to be having a great time enjoying this massive party. I didn't see anything bad happen, except for one guy who got arrested, nor did I experience anything bad. The weather was also in my favour because it wasn't too hot, in fact it was a little chilly but that was fine with me.

And what is Carnival without a Trini section?

As for partying we went to the Busspepper fete on Saturday night at Wax Bar in Central London, right by Oxford Circus. That was fun too - got all dressed up and had a good time. Here are a few more pics from the weekend!

The Parade

Costumes!

Non-humans included

Dance dance dance

posted by RC @ 7:50 AM