Nothing made me happier than to walk in the middle of the road, knowing that in a few moments time I would be covered in mud, chippin’ down the road behind a truck to my favourite soca songs with thousands of people enjoying the massive outdoor party.
The Notting Hill Carnival seemed to come and go faster than usual this year. By 7pm on Monday 29th August, I was becoming nostalgic, perusing over photos I had taken over the two days, shedding a tear of sadness as I reminisced over countless images of police officers being violated by thirsty winers! After the riots across London in early August, there was some talk about how only the brave or foolish would set foot on Ladbroke Grove; some even predicting mayhem with petrol bombs. There was me thinking, this is Notting Hill, not the perimeter of Gaddafi’s compound! The Notting Hill Carnival generates tens of millions of pounds for London and so I was skeptical about specualtion on its cancellation. Nevertheless, I waited with baited breath for confirmation and was pleased to hear that, despite a heavier police presence and earlier start and finish time, carnival had the go ahead. Embrace the mud! And so, on Sunday morning, I found myself striding down an eerily quiet Ladbroke Grove in a white boiler suit, surveying multi-coloured paint-splashed remnants of earlier j’ouvert action. Nothing made me happier than to walk in the middle of the road, knowing that in a few moments time I would be covered in mud, chippin’ down the road behind a truck to my favourite soca songs with thousands of people enjoying the massive outdoor party. A perfectly normal sight at the carnival! If you have never mudded before, you need to consider mudding at some point in your life! Once on the move, the van doors open and a big tub of mud gets towed along the route. Every now and then, one of the mud keepers, as I call them, dishes out a cold dollop of mud to the back or neck. Willing bystanders were also mudded! Not only is it good for your skin, but if you want to power-walk your way out of carnival on your way home, crowds will part like the Red Sea once they see how ‘dirty’ you are. On Monday, the fun continued in customised t-shirts with another mas band. In-keeping with Monday being ‘adult’s day’, the tone was evidently less child-friendly than the Sunday, with the DJ issuing imperatives for females to get in position for Skinny Fabulous’s 6.30 song after receiving its third rewind! Furthermore, alcohol flowed freely on the Monday, with some masqueraders carrying potent supplies of West Indian rum that could surely kill smaller mammals. All-in-all, the two days were a lot of fun. I was a bit disappointed I didn't hear this song once over the two days, but I saw some impressive costumes, masses of people enjoying themselves and none of the anticipated trouble that many people had been talking about. The flag earrings I had made the previous week looked great on the road and I distributed a few YouLike IMake business cards along the way. Flag earrings are great for carnivals, independence days and for those days when you're just feeling patriotic. They will also look great if you're planning on supporting your nation during the 2012 Olympics. As I wish the Notting Hill Carnival farewell for another year, I leave you with some more of the photos I took over the Bank Holiday weekend!
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The August Bank Holiday weekend is fast approaching and that can mean only one thing: the best street party in Europe- Notting Hill Carnival and my favourite two days of the year. On the contrary, as a little girl, I hated carnival. I could think of nothing more terrifying than standing beside a huge truck with wheels taller than me, carrying massive speakers blasting out unbelievably loud music. Thankfully that’s changed and I will be out on the road enjoying my Bank Holiday, hopefully in pristine, clear skies and unbroken, warm sunshine (fingers crossed). Usually the only carnival preparation I consider is eating a massive breakfast on the Sunday morning to make sure I have enough fuel to last for the day. However, this year the preparations started a bit early in the form of CALO Festival, the first event of its kind in the UK show-casing Pan-Caribbean culture. I was lucky enough to get tickets to see some of my favourite soca artists KrosFyah, Lil Rick, Blaxx, Kes The Band, Benjai and others, all performing at Alexandra Palace. I’ve been to plenty of concerts/ live performances, but this was my very first soca concert and it definitely got me warmed up for carnival. It also got me a totally unexpected chance to meet soca's equivalent of super man: Machel Montano! A great friend working at CALO ushered me through the previously impenetrable barrier to the magical land of backstage. In spite of my unprofessional camera looking like something that was produced by Fisher Price and an excited-fan facial expression, a wave of my press wristband granted me access to soca royalty. There were a few highlights during the night, but I think my favourite came during Lil Rick’s performance when a man on stilts seemed to appear from out of nowhere to do some really amazing tricks while twenty feet up in the air. Of course, no Lil Rick performance would be complete without him jumping on a woman’s back (something that would usually be met with widespread disdain and shock under any other circumstances), though I doubt health and safety is a top priority for Lil Rick! I would share the footage, but there was such a gratuitous helping of grinding antics preceding and following the non- consensual piggy-back, that I couldn’t possibly post it here! Kes The Band definitely didn't disappoint with a high-energy performance. The crowd was so worked up when they emerged on stage, I was lashed in the face several times by the flag-waving of one enthusiastic lady. However, the sound of their song 'Wotless' (a certified favourite for this year's Notting Hill Carnival) increased the frenzy levels of the crowd as people jumped and waved and sang at the top of their voices. As always, I had my YouLike IMake eye open during the night and bought some material from one of the stalls at CALO Festival to make some carnival-inspired earrings. Here is the first of hopefully many… Here's wishing everyone a happy carnival; I look forward to blogging about it soon.
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