Organisers, directors, and lovers of Notting Hill Carnival talk about next month’s event.
They discuss the history, the 75th year anniversary of the Windrush generation, the performances, how the carnival has changed and what they are most excited about.
They discuss the history, the 75th year anniversary of the Windrush generation, the performances, how the carnival has changed and what they are most excited about.
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00:00 was Vernon Fellows Williams. He was a founding member of Notting Hill Carnival in 1964.
00:05 He was a musician who came from Trinidad to study dentistry and ended up ditching it for music
00:11 and became a musician travelling all over Europe. When he came back to London, him and some friends
00:17 came down into Labrador Grove onto Alclin Road and that's been noted as the first street carnival in
00:22 Notting Hill. Carnival's born out of a resistance and so carnival was used to protest and to rebel
00:28 against oppression and the authorities who didn't really, you know, there was a lot of racism at the
00:32 time so it was used as a tool to communicate that. Essentially at the core of it is about unity,
00:38 it's about culture, it's about tradition, about artistry and about bringing people together.
00:44 My favourite thing is costume, family and rum.
00:48 Firstly, Notting Hill Carnival is a celebration of diversity. It's a tapestry of colours,
00:55 sounds, rhythms that we together unique identities of countless communities of cool London home.
01:02 Where flavours of the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and beyond blend harmoniously to showcase the
01:09 true beauty of multiculturalism. My parents came in that wind rush, they're part of that wind rush
01:15 generation, they're both past now, but they came over in that period and it's the 75th anniversary
01:23 this year. So for me it's hugely important to celebrate Caribbean culture and the contribution
01:31 of people from those Caribbean islands who sacrificed everything to give their families
01:39 and their children better opportunities. That's why my family came here. My favourite thing about
01:45 carnival is the steel bands. I love the feathers and the bikini costumes as well but it's those
01:52 character costumes that I really think encapsulate what carnival is about. So I like all of it,
02:00 I have to say. The first time that I was aware that I was at carnival, I was with my dad,
02:06 I was only little and I could hear something far away and I wanted to see what it was.
02:10 I know now it was a steel band, they didn't know what it was at the time, I didn't grow up in that
02:13 environment. And so then it was very much my dad and his friends, it was very much a Caribbean
02:19 thing and stuff like that. Now it's much more multicultural, it's much more diverse, but what's
02:25 important is that it's a celebration of Caribbean arts and Caribbean culture and that we're keeping
02:31 the essence and what's real about carnival. When I think of Notting Hill Carnival, I feel pride,
02:38 I feel strong and I feel like I belong and that I have a family. Notting Hill Carnival makes me feel
02:48 fabulous. Carnival makes me feel
02:51 happy, yeah.