This summer appears to include many firsts for me, especially in festival terms. Apart from the Isle of Wight Festival and Brighton Pride, I can now also add the infamous Notting Hill Carnival to that list.
The Notting Hill Carnival happens every year in August, over 2 days during the last Summer Bank Holiday. It kind of marks the end of summer if you will. The carnival is one of the biggest street festivals worldwide with millions of people attending this Caribbean party.
Apart from a massive parade with people dancing and walking through West London, wearing the most beautiful costumes – or sometimes next to nothing – the event is known for the use of huge sound systems. In every street, there’s another party with different music that you can usually hear way before you can see where it’s coming from. The atmosphere throughout is amazing and people are genuinely smiley (and drunk/high) and won’t stop dancing.
I went on Monday, the second day of the event and spent it with a friend who’d seen Notting Hill Carnival a few times. He took me literally everywhere. We walked almost 20km through West London, drank rum punch, visited different sound systems, walked along the procession, got trapped in the crowds and took loads of photos. I loved everything about this experience!
Here are some of my favourite shots from the day.
Visit my instagram for more (or maybe the same) photos if you enjoy seeing them.
