London’s Notting Hill Carnival has been canceled this year, but here’s a look at the festivities

The Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration in the Caribbean of London, has been held every year since the late August 1960s. Before the pandemic, it often attracted more than 2 million people to the streets of London to celebrate West Indian culture.

The first carnival in the UK belongs to the Trinidadian journalist and activist Claudia Jones, who was the founder and editor-in-chief. Journal of West India. In the 1950s, it was Notting Hill news Racial intolerance and riots that arose from the white working class and directed against members of the Black community. Jones saw the opportunity to back down against racist violence by partying, organizing the 1959 carnival indoors.

In the 1970s, a young teacher named Leslie Palmer took over the organization of the event. “I was a school teacher at the time and I wanted to take a break from teaching.” he said to Anneline Christie Ilovecarnivall media company 2019. “It looked like the carnival was dying. There was a Time Out ad for everyone interested in the carnival to attend a meeting. There were only five people. I gave my ideas.”

Palmer encouraged people to rent food and drink stalls on the festival route. He also hired local steelpan bands and other musicians with speakers and organized sponsorship for the event. Palm is also credited with extending the event to everyone in the Caribbean diaspora and not just everyone from the West Indies. The event, which gathers more than a million people every year, has had problems with incidents over the years. But overall, the festival continues as it should: a joyous celebration of Caribbean culture and life.

“Notting Hill Carnival has always been my highlight of the summer, and as each year brings a completely different experience, it never tires,” he said. Nadine Persaud, deputy director Photographic works, A London-based photography organization, and a UKFTOG A photographer who has been going to carnivals since he was a teenager. “When I was young, it was just a chance to party hard, but as I got older and became a parent, participation became more enjoyable. 2019 was a great year with wonderful weather, and it’s weird to think about it. No one there had any idea how a pandemic would stop for two years. he had yes It’s a huge party that many love, but it’s much more important for the local West London community as well as the wider British Black and Caribbean communities in the UK, so 2022 can’t come soon enough. ”

We’ve looked at the joy of more than five decades.