Notting Hill Carnival

Carnival in August? That's even weirder than carnival after Lent. On Bank Holiday weekend, the last one before Christmas, Caribbean beats resounded throughout the whitewashed Notting Hill neighbourhood. The theme was related to the Abolition bicentennial.

Day 1
After the initial disappointment with the Children's Carnival (not worth waiting more than two hours for, as we did), we made our way through the sound systems. So that's where the party is at! People were dancing and having a good time (often with illegal substances wafting through the air). There were very good live performances as well, including the beautiful Ava Leigh. Didn't catch the names of the other artists.

And the jerk chicken at Mr. T's was the best chicken I've had in a long time.

Security was good; bobbies everywhere. There was one thing they didn't think of, though: rubbish disposal. No bins anywhere! When you're expecting a million people, you need more than just a few trash bags.

Day 2
More people turned up for the Adults' Carnival. The Paraiso School of Samba started off the parade, and very well at that, with the works: centurions, devils, and all sorts of inexplicable manner of headresses and costumes as wide as the entire street. The 25-minute lag between them and the next group was just too long. Even though the next gaps were shorter, the enthusiasm of the crowd wore thin and it became too boring.

There should be warnings about the sound levels because they can be permanently damaging. Even with my earplugs, I sometimes still cringe because of the heavy bass.

More photos in my Flickr photo set. Also guestblogged at one of my fave travel-on-the-cheap reads, Europe String.