LONDON:

It’s August Bank Holiday weekend and London is gearing up to host Europe’s biggest street festival with the 60th anniversary of the Notting Hill Caribbean Carnival set for Sunday and Monday, August 30 and 31.

Steel bands, costumes, food stalls, sound systems and hundreds of thousands of spectators will take to the streets of west London W10 in a colourful, energetic procession that has become a tradition and cultural melting pot for all to enjoy. Over one million visitors are expected over the two days.

Rooted in British Caribbean culture, the Notting Hill Carnival was born out of a response to widespread racial tensions in the 1950s and has since been the ultimate symbol of togetherness and unity in the capital for over six decades.

The street festival will cover five arts areas - the mas, calypso, steel bands, mobile sound systems and static sound systems within a three-mile radius of west London running from Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park.

While the main carnival days are Sunday and Monday, the weekend party will get started on Saturday, August 29 with the UK National Panorama Steel Band Competition - the only event the public needs tickets for – in the Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park W10 3DH, starting at 4 p.m. Both junior and adult steel pan orchestras will take the stage in a spectacular display of musicianship and artistry as they compete for the title of Panorama Champions 2026.

As the famed Caribbean carnival is set to celebrate its 60th year, Mathew Phillips, the CEO of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, the body which manages the festival, feels its success over the years is because of people and the community.

Speaking to The Voice newspaper, he said: “Carnival evolves organically, it’s an organic thing, it’s not owned by any individual or corporation, it’s owned by the people and the communities, and in particular the carnival communities that put on the event.

“I always say that carnival doesn’t have one artistic director or somebody curating what music’s played, what costumes look like. We’ve got over 100.

“We have got 36 sound systems, about 60 Mas bands, 14 steel bands, eight Brazilian bands, stages, calypso and soca artists, and they’re not dictated to. What their costumes look like, or what their music sounds like, it’s up to them.

“The only exception is the parade route, where we’ve actually had an active stance to preserve soca and calypso, and that’s not because we want to put any other genres of music to the sideline. It’s a simple fact that most of the other music are being played at our sound systems and stages.

“But we feel that soca and calypso doesn’t enjoy the commercial success of some of our other genres of music. So, for us, it’s about protecting that heritage of the parade being about soca and calypso and carnival music from different islands.”

Carnival Sunday is traditionally described as the families and children’s day followed by the adult’s day on Monday. The main event on Sunday is the children’s mas starting at the Mas Judging Point on Great Western Road at 10.00 am, featuring the next generation dancing in the streets, wearing carefully crafted costumes and carrying on the carnival tradition.

There will also be a live stage show on Sunday and Monday at the Powis Square Stage at Powis Square W11, opposite the Tabernacle, with a variety of selectors and stage acts, starting at 12 noon on both days.

Bank Holiday Monday will be the carnival climax with the Mas bands taking to the streets for the last lap. Close to 60 costumes bands will be showcasing their colourful creations and vying for the title of best designed masquerade band when they pass the judging point on Great Western Road.

There would be no carnival without music which is the heart of Notting Hill Carnival, with more than 30 static sound systems, including popular ones like Channel One, Gladdy Wax, GT Flex Roadshow, Saxon Sound, Rampage and Sir Lloyd, positioned inside the carnival route that will keep the party going all day long.

There’s nothing quite like the spectacle of the Notting Hill Carnival and as with any Caribbean celebrations there is plenty of food and drink everywhere you turn. Carnival-goers will be spoilt for choice across all three days. There will more than 300 stalls selling all sorts of Caribbean fare, from jerk chicken, curry goat, roast corn to roti and doubles, for eager onlookers as the parade winds its way through the streets.

Londoners will also know that getting to and from Notting Hill Carnival is no easy feat, as several underground stations will become exit-only, while others close entirely because of the risk of overcrowding.

The closest stations are Notting Hill Gate, Queensway, and Holland Park on the Central line, or Westbourne Park, Ladbroke Grove and Latimer Road on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. But, be warned that these stations get extremely busy as thousands make their way into W10, so try and plan your travel and be prepared to walk!