Notting Hill Carnival Marks 60 Years as Londoners Take to the Streets for Parade

London has come alive with music, colour and Caribbean culture as Londoners take to the streets for the Notting Hill Carnival, one of the capital’s biggest annual celebrations. The event, held over the August Bank Holiday weekend, is marking its 60th anniversary this year, celebrating six decades of Caribbean heritage, community and cultural expression in the heart of London.

The roots of Notting Hill Carnival can be traced to the late 1950s, when racial tensions and attacks against Caribbean immigrants were a harsh reality in the area. Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones organised an indoor Caribbean Carnival in London in 1959, helping create a space for Caribbean culture and community.

Seven years later, in 1966, local social worker Rhaune Laslett organised a street festival in Notting Hill, an event widely regarded as the beginning of the modern carnival. What started as a small community celebration has since grown into one of Europe’s largest street festivals, shaped by Caribbean music, steelpan, calypso, soca, masquerade and sound-system culture.