By 2.00 pm GMT there were already thousands of revellers and news reached us that the Notting Hill Gate station had been closed. Fun times! Sunday's carnival is for children and you see hundreds of children as young a three months dressed up in costumes and dancing on the streets. Monday, a public holiday in England, is the main day of the two-day Notting Hill Carnival, an annual celebration of Caribbean culture that usually draws over 1 million people for a colourful procession of musicians and performers.It is a free for all show and revellers come to have as fun much as they can enjoying afro-Caribbean, dance, fashion, music, food and drinks.
Inspired by Trinidad's carnival, the Notting Hill event was first held in London in 1964 and has grown into one of the world's biggest, generating tens of millions of pounds for London's economy.
The Notting Hill Carnival is one of Europe's biggest street parties, usually peaceful and I could not fail but notice the record numbers of police on duty aid to be here to prevent a repetition of riots that shook the British capital three weeks ago. But come on, why would we black people want to spoil our own festival? Not possible! But with the London Olympics less than a year away, the capital's police force probably need to restore public faith in its ability to ensure security at major events.
So far, the Police said they had made 88 arrests on drugs charges, theft or other offences, around the same number as last year at the same time. More than 6,500 officers are being deployed to this year's event, nearly 1,000 more than last year. And please note, they are using special powers that allow the police to stop and search individuals they suspect may be intent on causing trouble, and to force individuals to remove any face masks.
Anyway after a brilliant children's carnival and few heavy showers on Sunday which did little to deter us, we woke up to be greeted by brilliant sunshine today (Monday) as thousands of revellers began arriving by tube, bus and on foot. The streets along the procession route were lined with hundreds of food stalls flying the distinctive yellow, green and black flag of Jamaica and the black-and-red of Trinidad and Tobago.
The smell of fried fish, jerk chicken and fried plantain wafted over the route as sound systems boomed with the beats of "drum 'n' bass", hip hop, reggae and samba.
Crowds lined the streets to watch a procession of trucks carrying performers with painted faces, flamboyant costumes and multi-coloured wigs, some waving flags or blowing whistles.
The police are everywhere and are quite visible and this has somehow marred the picture of the carnival that we all have. They are patrolling in pairs with each float or on bicycles. In addition to those deployed for the event, another 4,000 police are on stand-by in case of trouble. But I hope not. There is hardly any photograph I took that does not have an officer in it.
People have been a little scared since violent riots broke out in London earlier this month after a protest over the police shooting of a suspect from the Caribbean community in the north London neighbourhood of Tottenham - which is about nine miles northeast of Notting Hill. Yobs and youths in other parts of England later joined in for a different reason not connected to the shooting. Around 2,000 arrests were made after the disorders, in which hooded young people looted businesses, set buildings ablaze and fought street battles with officers.But so far there is no obvious reason why riots can flair up.
So far, the Police said they had made 88 arrests on drugs charges, theft or other offences, around the same number as last year at the same time. More than 6,500 officers are being deployed to this year's event, nearly 1,000 more than last year. And please note, they are using special powers that allow the police to stop and search individuals they suspect may be intent on causing trouble, and to force individuals to remove any face masks.
Anyway after a brilliant children's carnival and few heavy showers on Sunday which did little to deter us, we woke up to be greeted by brilliant sunshine today (Monday) as thousands of revellers began arriving by tube, bus and on foot. The streets along the procession route were lined with hundreds of food stalls flying the distinctive yellow, green and black flag of Jamaica and the black-and-red of Trinidad and Tobago.
The smell of fried fish, jerk chicken and fried plantain wafted over the route as sound systems boomed with the beats of "drum 'n' bass", hip hop, reggae and samba.
Crowds lined the streets to watch a procession of trucks carrying performers with painted faces, flamboyant costumes and multi-coloured wigs, some waving flags or blowing whistles.
The police are everywhere and are quite visible and this has somehow marred the picture of the carnival that we all have. They are patrolling in pairs with each float or on bicycles. In addition to those deployed for the event, another 4,000 police are on stand-by in case of trouble. But I hope not. There is hardly any photograph I took that does not have an officer in it.
People have been a little scared since violent riots broke out in London earlier this month after a protest over the police shooting of a suspect from the Caribbean community in the north London neighbourhood of Tottenham - which is about nine miles northeast of Notting Hill. Yobs and youths in other parts of England later joined in for a different reason not connected to the shooting. Around 2,000 arrests were made after the disorders, in which hooded young people looted businesses, set buildings ablaze and fought street battles with officers.But so far there is no obvious reason why riots can flair up.
Inspired by Trinidad's carnival, the Notting Hill event was first held in London in 1964 and has grown into one of the world's biggest, generating tens of millions of pounds for London's economy.
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