How and why you should still celebrate Notting Hill Carnival in 2020
By Marius Nigond & Will Jarvis
It’s that time of the year when many of us would be gearing up for the last big event of the summer: The Notting Hill Carnival. But as with most things in 2020, this year it will be a little different.
I’ve seen many outlets claim it’s been cancelled. This is far from the truth. NHC organisers have done an amazing job putting together a virtual line-up, to be enjoyed from the comfort of your home. We’ve picked out some “virtual” highlights towards the end of the article.
looking for the carnival feeling?
If you’d rather get out and soak up those last sun-rays of summer, you’re not alone. We’ve teamed up with Culture Trip to create a number of self-guided audio tours to discover London and its secrets, and this weekend is the perfect time to try out two of these experiences: Notting Hill & Brixton.
All photos by our very talented @Andrea D’Angelo
We’ve really pushed the Vidi Guides concept in these tours, exploring sensitive topics such as race, immigration and integration. We’ve teamed up with locals to explore issues of gentrification, musicians to understand how the area’s culture is reflected through music and we hear first-hand from descendants of the Windrush generation to understand how they were accepted into British society.
This last point is particularly important to us in the context of Black Lives Matter. Only by learning about this type of history, and hearing from the people who witnessed it, can we truly understand the importance of the Notting Hill Carnival as a celebration of Black British Culture. I have been attending the carnival since I was a teenager but, like many, I had no idea that it started as a reaction to the 1958 London race riots. You can hear directly from Ben and Claudia in the tour sample below:
When and how did the Notting Hill Carnival start?
We’ve seen a number of Notting Hill Carnival musicians choose to relocate their sets to Brixton this year. This is no coincidence. If we touch on Black British Culture in the Notting Hill tour, we really dive right into it when exploring Brixton.
During this one-hour walk of Brixton, we discover the amazing music and culture that has originated from this neighbourhood, and we learn a bit more about the area’s West-Indian community and their struggles.
For instance, we take a long stop at Windrush Square where we learn about the Windrush Generation and the recent Windrush scandal. Once again, working on this experience forced me to learn about a part of history that I was aware of, but had never taken the time to truly understand - despite the recent news coverage. Hearing first-hand accounts of what life was like for the Windrush generation and the issues they still face today made me aware of a narrative you don’t always get through traditional news channels. Have a listen to Ben and Ed discussing this in Windrush square.
What was life really like for the Windrush Generation?
This may all sound a bit dark and gloomy up to now. But, true to the essence of the Notting Hill Carnival, both experiences try to focus on the amazing contributions these neighbourhoods have made to British (and world) society. One of the most powerful parts of the tour is when Ben and Ed discuss how the Windrush generation introduced Britain to Reggae, Ska and Dub Music, and their reactions to Lambeth Town Hall’s initiative to improve relations between different communities:
Windrush Square & No Colour Bar Dance
In any case, we had so much fun exploring these neighbourhoods and hope that we can pass on the Carnival feeling to all those experiencing a Vidi Guides tour this weekend. Carnival may be cancelled, but nothing is stopping you from heading to Notting Hill or Brixton and discovering the area and its culture in a safe, responsible manner..
Rocking down Electric Avenue
How to Experience the 2020 Notting Hill Carnival
If you’d rather experience Europe’s biggest street party from the comfort of your home, be sure to tune in to Notting Hill Carnival’s website. Events will be streamed across four channels. Whilst warm-up events take place from Saturday – we are staying true to the Notting Hill Carnival essence, and only recommending events on Sunday & Monday.
10am: Digital cook-along and cocktail making session to get you in the mood. It’s never too early to start on Notting Hill Sunday!
11am-12pm: Interviews with those involved in the carnival since its early days.
12pm – 8pm: It’s all about the parade - floats, costumes and music! Sunday is dedicated to children and youth, so we’ll see plenty of young performers taking part. Monday is for the adults.
12pm – 8pm: Get ready for some bass! Notting Hill Carnival is all about the booming arrays of sound systems, filling the streets with different genres of music. Turn the woofers up, annoy your neighbours and enjoy this from your living room instead..
8pm – 11pm: By this point the neighbours will either have called the police on you, or they’ll have embraced the spirit of carnival and joined you for an evening of fun. At this point you’ll have to stream performances from the “Main Stage”, with international artists from Jamaica, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada. On Monday, UK artists will take centre stage instead.
