Section:GDN 1N PaGe:11 Edition Date:190827 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 26/8/2019 20:57 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Tuesday 27 August 2019 The Guardian •National^11
Notting Hill carnival
‘It’s buzzing and full
of laughter and love’
Aamna MohdinW
hen Aldwyn
Roberts , better
known as the
calypso singer
Lord Kitchener ,
stepped off the
SS Windrush in 1948, he sang a few
lines of his new song : London is the
Place for Me. It’s been more than
70 years since that fateful moment,
when hundreds of Commonwealth
citizens from the Caribbean made
the UK their home, but Roberts’
spirit and that of the Windrush
generation can still be felt at the
Notting Hill carnival, Europe’s
largest street festival.
Michael Oliver, who goes by the
name Bubbles , dressed up as Roberts
to honour his parents’ generation.
He was carrying a briefcase with the
word Windrush plastered on its side.
The 68-year-old said: “ This group
of people played a great part in this
whole thing. They came here and
brought all their culture and we have
enhanced the culture.” Oliver was
keen for the carnival not to be taken
out of its historical context. “It’s a▼ Feather-clad performers take part
in the main parade at yesterday’s
Notting Hill carnival in London
PHOTOGRAPH: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/GETTYcelebration, but it’s a deep thing. It’s
more than just coming out o n the
street and getting drunk.”
London’s fi rst carnival was held in
1959 in response to a series of racist
attacks and rioting that spread from
Nottingham to west London, where
gangs of white youths targeted
black people. The carnival was put
together to celebrate the culture
of local communities because,
according to a brochure handed out
at the time : “A people’s art is the
genesis of their freedom.”
Krysta Billong, 30, who travelled
from Paris, said: “It’s still about
celebrating black people and our
freedom.” She was dancing on a fl oat
with her friend Jeannine Fischer, a
dance instructor. “We’re celebrating
blackness, we’re celebrating
Caribbean and Africans, and we do
it in the sun, with good music – and
some jerk chicken ,” Billong said.
They were among an estimated
1 million people who descended on
west London over the bank holiday
weekend for the two-day festival
known for its mas, or masquerade,
bands, where themed costumes
meet music, steel pans and booming
sound systems.
Levi Roots, who fi rst s old his▲ A reveller in an elaborate costume
rehydrates as the sun beat down on
the streets of Notting Hill yesterday▲ Michael Oliver, in a 1950s-style
suit, draws attention to the wrongful
deportations of the Windrush scandalReggae Reggae Sauce at a stall at
the carnival, then at major retailers
across the country, turn ed to the
Jamaican patois word brawta to
describe yesterday’s atmosphere. “It
means the cherry on the top of the
sweetness. Sunday was the starter
and today builds on that,” he said.
Roots, 61, still remembers his fi rst
carnival in 1976 , when he had just
come to Britain from Jamaica. “It
was my fi rst experience where it was
a place that was about Caribbean
people. It was great to see Caribbean
people in their essence doing what
we love, sharing food and music .”
Roots said it was no surprise the
carnival was now Europe’s biggest
street party. “We’ve been waiting
for everyone to wake up to what’s
been done here. Carnival should be
taken as seriously as the Chelsea
fl ower show and Glastonbury.”
Roots said he had been honouredto be one of 10 Notting Hill carnival
ambassadors. “ It’s absolutely
amazing. I started here where it was
just me trying to raise a few quid for
my kids to buy trainers and now I get
to represent what carnival is about .”
Edmond and his wife, Gene,
were dressed as sailors to celebrate
carnival and the 50th anniversary
of Edmond’s mov e to London.
“They’ve used carnival to remind
people of Windrush, who came
here and brought carnival here. We
grew up with this, it’s part of our
nature and to see it develop has been
amazing.” He laugh ed when asked if
he love d or hate d the city: “ Let’s go
with like.”
Nicole got up at 6.30am to travel
from Hertfordshire with her aunt,
Leynoe, to celebrate her 28th
birthday. “I’ve come since I was four
and I love the vibe and the music.
It’s putting us in the limelight and
reminds people that not everything
should be negative when it comes
to black people.” Leynoe added:
“We’ve been doing it for years and
years and years, and we love every
minute of it. I’ve become addicted .”
Mercedes Benson, 27, who was
dancing as part of the Mangrove
mas band, said she had only had
two hours of sleep but added that it
was not going to hold her back. “It’s
carnival weekend, it doesn’t stop.
It’s electric, it’s buzzing and full of
laughter and love.”
Roots was keen to credit the
festival organisers, who he said were
under pressure to move the carnival
or stop it. But Edmond, who lives
near the festivities, was not worried.
“They’ve been trying to move
carnival for 40-odd years ... We’ll
come out to the street every time.”Heat of the moment
The highest temperature for a late
August bank holiday Monday was
recorded yesterday as hot weather
continued across the country.
Heathrow recorded 33. 2C
(91. 8F), slightly ahead of Northolt
in west London and beating the
previous high of 28.2C at Holbeach,
Lincolnshire, in 2017.
Greg Dewhurst , a senior
meteorologist, said the warm
weather would continue, but
there was a chance of thunder and
showers in some areas from today.
“ The south-east of England will hold
on to the sun for an extra day and we
could see temperatures in the low
30s,” he said. The high temperatures
come after a largely cool, wet
August. PA Media▲ More than a million people attended Europe’s bigg est street party GETTYRELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws