Tagged with Notting Hill Carnival …

Jan 31 2012
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Journalism

B.Y.O.C (Bring Your Own Culture)

Pacing the corridors at uni as I waited for a lesson to start, my phone starts ringing. It’s my friend Toni, one of the most hardworking, level-headed and talented people I know. Currently halfway through her Photojournalism degree, she’s been freelancing like mad, perfecting her portfolio and building her brand.

So the story goes is that she’sworking on her university newspaper and has called me to ask for a favour; she was briefed by her editor to find a photo to illustrate an article.

She typed “multiculturalism” into a search engine and started trawling through pages of images, until she saw a photo in which she recognised some of the people. She clicked the link and it led her to my website. Toni called to ask my permission to use the picture and of course I said yes.

A couple of days later, she sent me a picture of the paper and I was surprised at how well the photo looked blown up on the page. I took this photo at the 2010 Notting Hill Carnival and it was a day of sun and sound systems.

Not bad for an amateur, eh?                           Photo Credit – Toni Knevitt

For Toni to call me up and ask for the photo was a massive compliment. At some point during me undergrad, I knew I didn’t have enough drive or talent to make it in photojournalism, so followed the print path instead, but her phone call was a reminder on how self-pubishing can get you noticed.

♫ Nu Yorican Soul – Shoshana

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Aug 30 2011
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Culture, London

Misplaced thrills at Notting Hill

It’s been a weekend of slow-wining, cheeky 2-steps, unabashed street drinking and impromptu pictures with the Police. And as the sun set on the smart streets of West London this evening, the final Dancehall tunes and Dubstep mixes were being blasted out of the static sound systems to loved-up and chilled-out revellers.

 

But as this year’s Notting Hill Carnival drew to a close, many die-hard fans will be wondering if the summer show-piece will be able to consign the recent events that rocked the capital to history, and regain its unpredictable, sunny vibe next year.

Whilst not to detract from what was a largely peaceful and trouble-free event, this year’s Carnival was marred by the unfortunate UK Riots which threatened the staging of Europe’s biggest street festival.

Thankfully, talks to suspend the popular celebration of Caribbean culture were thwarted, but the heavy Police presence, coupled with a simmering uncertainty of whether trouble was about to erupt, was a bit of a killer.

When the sun is shining and everyone is one the same page, Carnival is a show-stopping pageant of creative costumes, impressive sound systems, the finest jerk chicken this side of the Atlantic and an infectious vibe that reverberates off the white stucco-fronted houses of W10.

But with news that the Archbishop of Notting Hill, Norman Jay MBE, was to be the notable exception from this year’s line-up, his devout Good Times followers were left wondering who was going to soundtrack the last Bank Holiday weekend of their year.

With Good Times being a stalwart of Carnival for the past 30 years, it was a blow to all those revellers who exit the tube and hotfoot it to the corner of Southern and West Row, Red Stripes to hand, Ray Bans on check, to be taken on a musical odyssey by Norman in his iconic red bus.

That said, we pounded the pavements on Children’s Day and marvelled at the colourful characters, travelling sound systems and energetic dancers who took to the streets to prove that when London comes together to party, they do it with expert flair and finesse.

Let’s hope next year, the pomp and pageantry won’t be marred by isolated incidents threatening the reputation of this beacon in our cultural calendar.

♫ Jamiroquai – ‘Too Young To Die’

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Sep 04 2010
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London

Good Times – The End of the Summer

Vibrant and intricately designed costumes, flamboyant floats and the smell of Jerk sauce wafting through the stylish streets of W10…..the Notting Hill Carnival put on quite a show.

August’s Bank Holiday has become famous for the Reading and Leeds festivals, but if you don’t fancy losing a tooth moshing to thrash metal, a stay-musication is the perfect alternative. Carnival is synonymous as the summer’s swan song and luckily for us, the capital’s Afro-Caribbean community pull out all the stops to stage an astonishing show.

Some of the most exclusive West London post codes are transformed into outdoor nightclubs, where door policies are ripped up and the bouncers given the night off. This year, the carnival procession, along with static stages and specially constructed sound systems entertained some one million revellers as they partied in the sun.

Whilst the music and the procession played an important role, it has to be said that the food was the perfect complement. The streets were awash with stalls selling traditional Caribbean cuisine. Jerk Chicken, Ackee and Saltfish, Curry Goat, Rice and Peas…

The hardcore sounds of Jamaican dub at the Aba Shanti-I sound system served as a remedy to the ageing Rastas and a spiritual awakening to their younger counterparts, whilst the legendary Rampage sound system bought contemporary dancehall sounds to teens in Coleville Square.

But this musical mash-up of hip-hop, D&B, ska, garage, reggae and R&B paved way to one of the most revered and highly regarded Carnival sound systems….Good Times.

Down on the junction between Southern Row and West Row, the acclaimed DJ, Norman Jay MBE, perched on top of his red double-decker bus, was throwing down some of the funkiest rare groove and party tracks known to club aficionados. Being one of the most iconic sound systems at Carnival, Good Times has been entertaining the crowds for the past 30 years.  

The streets were splitting at the seams as thousands continued to descend on West London, even as Carnival was drawing to a close. It seems like BPT (Black People Time) got the better of most!

In a feel-good atmosphere, hundreds got into their groove whilst rocking their Ray Bans and clutching their Red Stripes. Just the perfect way to wave goodbye to the summer.  

 

♫ BB & Q Band – Starlette

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