Notting Hill Carnival

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So another Bank Holiday comes around and this time thought i should check out the Notting Hill Carnival. This is meant to be the biggest street carnival in Europe. It does have a parade of sorts, really its just a load of people walking or doing their thing behind trucks which carry steel bands, or DJs, or music in general. Anyone could join the parade if they felt like it.
It is a huge Carribean Carnival that has been going since 1964. There is loads of different little areas all around the back streets of Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove and Portobello. It goes for two days, although people generally only go for one day.

Amanda and I went, got a little lost en route (go figure considering the amount of people around at the time) and after finding the place we had a good time. Didnt see a lot of the Parade itself, but the entertainment on the streets was enough to keep us occupied.

There was an option for Jerk Chicken or Curried Goat on Rice, there was the odd Chinese and Indian food stall. The Traditional Jerk Chicken and/of Curried Goat were everywhere, and all cooked on wood/coal burning Barbeques.....well smokey but all added to the atmosphere.

Red Stripe being the Jamaican Lager (sold in most pubs) was everywhere, along with the odd Rum Punch, Sangria and whole Coconuts that you drank through a straw (after they chopped them open with a machete)

Alot of the residents in the area also opened their homes up to allow people the use of their toilets (there were loads of Portaloos around but not overly enticing to use by the end of the day) for a small fee of £1-2 a go, but with the luxury of proper toilet paper and even a wash basin and towel to dry your hands. There were also a lot of people making the most out of the amounts of thirsty people, by walking around with buckets of ice and beers. Takeaway food was also being sold out of first floor windows of peoples lounges .......

Police and ushers were everywhere to help out with directions for buses, tubes or even just to find different areas of the Carnival..... There were loads of people but not as cramped as i first thought it would be and dreaded the thought of. It was a well worth it day out and glad i did it. Sore feet and rather dirty as i wore Jandals against peoples advise of dirt, drinks, and people were to stand on your feet. Correct they were.....

Anyhow some photos may tell it better.....enjoy 8)

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Photos

Portobello Road
Absolutely chocker with people!!!

A Red Bus in the Parade
not that i could see anything anyways

A Car come Plane
Part of some of the entertainment

A funky wee Dancer
Convinced a lady to dance with him, after he took his jacket off and placed it on the ground for the lady to dance on.

One of the many DJs
Only i dont think many of the others were as dressed up as this dude, and he played some old school music

Cooking the Jerk Chicken and Goat Curry
and with a dozen or so of these lined up along the street, it was well smokey!!! but smelled good

Some Guys pulling off a Boys to Men rendition
in Pouris Square

some of the many portaloos
And the crowd....there was no real escaping it

Roller Disco
only it was to a bit of hip hop instead. The Lady with the blonde hair looked about 50 but was holding her end up alright

Check out this dudes Skates!!!
serious bling, but probably needed super reinforced wheels coz of his height

Another DJ session we came upon.
Its also where we found the Rum Punch... loads of fruit in it also..not bad

Some girls that were in the parade
Doing traditional dances. Very cute

Some girls that were in the parade
Doing traditional dances. Very cute

The youngest girl that was in the parade
only came up to the other girls shoulders if that, very cute!!

And the sun gets to some people
i would imagine the Red Stripe wouldnt have helped...but to be fair it was a very hot day

One of the opportunists
Selling Jerk Chicken out the second floor living room window. Was impressed

And the piles of rubbish
and no rubbish bins, but to be very honest i dont think they would last long anyways. There was just so much of it all.

And the piles of rubbish
Food Cartons and Beer cans.....where were they to go...??