The Notting Hill Carnival
Held in August year the Notting Hill Carnival is Europe’s biggest street party.

The Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe and originated in 1964 as a way for Afro-Caribbean communities to celebrate their own cultures and traditions. Taking place every August Bank Holiday weekend in the streets of London W11, the Notting Hill Carnival is an amazing array of sounds, colourful sights and social solidarity

At the roots of the Notting Hill Carnival are the Caribbean carnivals of the early 19th century – a particularly strong tradition in Trinidad – which were all about celebrating the abolition of slavery

and the slave trade. The very first carnival was an attempt to showcase the steel band musicians who played in the Earls Court of London every Weekend. When the bands paraded through the streets of Notting Hill, they drew black residents out on to the streets, reminding them of the Caribbean homes they had left behind.

IMAGES: http://www.thenottinghillcarnival.com

Related story:

More than 100 arrested, dozens hurt at Notting Hill Carnival

By Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press From The Hour

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 28 LONDON (AP) — London police arrested more than 100 people amid sporadic violence Sunday at the annual Notting Hill Carnival, an annual celebration of Caribbean culture in the British capital that often includes trouble on the sidelines.

The Metropolitan Police reported at least four knife attacks during the opening day of the two-day festival in west London. It said four males aged 15 to 20 were wounded, with one 15-year-old boy hospitalized in critical condition.
Sunday’s festivities included a colorful child-oriented parade through west London that attracted tens of thousands of revelers, many of whom danced in the streets to the sound of steel drums and reggae bands.

Scores of paramedics were on hand to provide MASH-style units for carnival-goers injured or unwell from alcohol or drugs. Medical beds were deployed at roadsides in some locations.

The London Ambulance Service reported shortly before midnight that 411 people had received medical care at the carnival, 77 of whom needed to be hospitalized.

Police said 105 people were arrested on charges that includedr drug possession, carrying knives, assault, sexual offenses and theft.

The carnival, founded in 1966 by West Indian immigrants following the Notting Hill race riots of 1958, frequently has involved clashes with police. Many local businesses have closed during the event since 1977, when police stormed the carnival amid looting of shops. The 2008 festivities ended in a street riot. Last year, police arrested 407 people, a record for an event where knifings committed by youth gangs have become a troubling trend. This year police have deployed a 7,000-strong force to keep the peace.

The carnival remains one of Europe’s biggest street parties with hundreds of thousands attending each year. It takes place at the end of August on the last two days of a three-day weekend.

IMAGES: Ben A. Pruchnie, Getty Images

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