Notting Hill Carnival is Europe’s largest street festival and one of the most important cultural celebrations of Caribbean heritage and Black British identity. Held annually over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the carnival transforms the streets of Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove into a vibrant display of music, dance, costume and community spirit.
Rooted in West Indian traditions and born out of post-war Caribbean migration to the UK, the carnival highlights the cultural resilience, creativity and joy of British African Caribbean communities. It features steelbands, sound systems, masquerade bands, soca and calypso music, children’s days and lively parade routes that engage hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Notting Hill Carnival represents a living celebration of diasporic culture, community pride and collective memory, making it one of the most significant annual Black cultural events in the UK.
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