THE first time I heard the song, ‘Jamaica farewell I felt like sitting under the coconut tree to, drink rum and longed to see the Caribbean.  Couple of years later, I still haven’t been to the Caribbean but I can assure you that if Lord Burgess was sailing from Jamaica to Notting Hill, London, England, on the 29th of August 2010, he wouldn’t have written that song because, the Caribbean and even Africa was brought to Notting Hill.

The display of  perfectly made  Jerk chicken, rice and peas, Ackee and salt fish, Jamaican patty with  loud music being played on 41 different sound systems, live performances featuring both local bands and  international artistes from around the world; bright and peculiar  costumes, beautifully decorated floats cascading  down the streets with dancers and scantily-claded revellers  that could drive a saint to sin, the sound of laughter and an atmosphere charged with happiness and excitement  was the composition of this year’s Notting hill Carnival and Lord Burgess would have felt at home.

To crown it all,  this year’s turnout was approximately one million,  making  the carnival the largest of its kind in Europe. The carnival was in two parts; the first day was tagged children’s day, where children showcased their piece with a relatively lower turnout compared to the second part which was mainly for adults. The parade began on Great Western Road, then winds its way along Chepstow Road on to Westbourne Grove, and ends up in Ladbroke Grove.  After the floats left the streets in procession, people carried on partying at various Notting hill Car carnival after parties.

This year’s Nigerian stand  was The Lagos State stand with 9ice, DJ Abass and a host of other artistes, on Alderson Street. The live performances were done the Lagosian style. It was impressive to see people of other ethnicity enjoying the show. Amid all the splendour of the carnival, it was easy to forget the motive behind the carnival which started as a local festival set up by West Indian immigrates and people living locally who wanted a forum to bring those living in Nottinghill together, majority of whom were facing racism, lack of working opportunities and poor housing conditions, which resulted in suppression of self-esteem not which different from what they experienced during slavery.

The need to express themselves grew very strong and Notting Hill carnival was born. Although the first carnival was organised by Claudia Jones (Mother of Notting Hill Carnival) in 1959 and was held indoors at St. Pancras Town Hall and  was more of  a social event than an Afro- Caribbean event,  it was Rhaune Laslett that brought the Carnival to Notting Hill when she  invited members of various ethnic groups in notting hill to take part in a weeklong event that would end with an august bank holiday parade and ever since the Carnival had been held  in August  and have grown more diverse, bigger and richer in content.  Like everything of this magnitude, the carnival had its fair share of controversies over the years.

In 1976, a riot broke out at the end of the carnival, resulting into the injury of about 100 police officers. About 60 carnival goers had to be taken to the hospital and 66 people were arrested. Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon, who were two famous participants at the riot, later formed the seminal punk band, The Clash and wrote the song, ‘White Riot’ about the event.  

There have been records of violence through the years which flooded newspaper headlines creating  fear over the carnival, however, this years’ carnival was relatively calm, thanks to the arrest made by The Metropolitan police service prior to the carnival and an increased police presence at the carnival.