With Notting Hill Carnival kicking off this weekend, organisers have spoken to NME about the future of the seminal celebration of Black culture.
Founded nearly 60 years ago, the event is now a vibrant celebration of Caribbean culture birthed as a response to the infamous 1958 Notting Hill Riots and the racist killing of Kelso Cochrane in 1959. Today, the carnival not only showcases West Indian traditions but also honours the African and Brazilian influences that have helped shaped the event and London at large.
This year will be the 57th edition, marking 59 years since the Carnival’s first inception and with close to two million people expected to attend this year. NME asked what the future of Carnival holds so it can go on for another 60 years.
“We’re coming up to 60 years and the end is not in sight,” the Carival’s CEO Matthew Philips told NME.
He suggested that the obvious way Carnival will continue to thrive is through collaboration.
“We don’t market Carnival because it doesn’t need it, but there is work to be done in terms of how people can get involved,” he added. “I do appreciate a lot of people don’t realise that you can actually participate.”
Philips said that many masquerade bands – huge trucks, also known as mas bands, surrounded by colourful, feathered dancers and musicians in the parade every year – are always on the lookout for help. “All of the bands have welcomed people helping to make and construct the costumes,” he stated.
“There are steel bands up and down the country that offer free classes for the most part to learn how to play the steel band. All of the sound systems operate throughout the year and they do various events. I know that most of them, if not all, are open to young people getting involved and learning the skills.”
Colours Carnival is a mas band-based event in London that “brings an authentic taste of the Caribbean carnival experience” – who are always looking to collaborate with “not just people who are first, second, and third generation Caribbean people,” but also “welcome others and the wider UK to experience Carnival.”
However, Tasmin from the Carival’s team suggested more can be done to make more people aware that they can be a part of the parade. “Every year we have new members, which is really good [and] each year it is getting a bit bigger, which is fantastic,” she began, “but more can certainly be done to let everyone know that they can come and help”.
She went on to explain the barriers the band face, saying the future of mas bands as a whole looks “difficult” due to the rise in cost. “I do feel every year, it gets harder to bring out a band on the road,” Tasmin told NME. “There’s no little pot of funding or anything like that. Every band is put on at their own cost.”
With suppliers’ costs rising and more restrictions being imposed, fewer bands are able to appear in Notting Hill Carnival. This impact was already felt in this year’s J’ouvert celebration, which happens annually on Carnival Sunday, which was cancelled due to a lack of participating bands.
Another barrier they face is remaining as authentic as possible. “Sometimes people do reach out and it’s not necessarily help that we need, but sometimes it is really helpful,” she said. Sometimes, it is clear when a brand or organisation hop on the trend of Carnival, leading Tasmin to stress that if someone wants to collaborate, they must “do their research on what Carnival is about because you can tell when time and effort is put in.”
“When it’s done right, it can be amazing, but don’t let the fear of ‘Oh no! This isn’t our arena’ stop you,” she concluded.
The issue of authenticity has started to crop up on social media over the years. Many questioned the increase of Afrobeats, hip-hop and other music of Black origin at the second-biggest carnival in the world and believed the event was straying away from its roots. This led to the implementation of a new music policy this year which said only soca, calypso and other West Indian and Brazilian genres can be played in the parade, resulting in a few popular mas bands.
@tazzlvndon Dont come for me the music insults itself already
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@femijaye This is a question, not a statement of what I think should happen #carnival #nottinghillcarnival2022 #nottinghillcarnival #westindies #afrobeats #afrobeat #carribeanculture #london #culture
@itzshaann Theres no poace for that here sir #carnival
“It’s very important,” Philips said about the new music policy for the parade. “Soca and calypso don’t enjoy mainstream successes and there aren’t many places where you can go and see or hear them, whereas a lot of other genres enjoy exposure at many other festivals and events up and down the country.”
However, he welcomed the other genres throughout the diaspora at static sound systems: “It’s not just about the Caribbean – I always say that the roots are in the Caribbean but the deep roots are in Africa. [Carnival]’s about freedom and it’s about inclusivity. Carnival started to bring people together, black, white, whatever. So why would we not want or exclude music that doesn’t just come from the Caribbean?”
Linett Kamala – a DJ, sound system expert and member of the Notting Hill Carnival board – told NME that the ethos behind sound systems is to “play something fresh”. But she has noticed that – although there is a variety of genres played – many sound systems just play the “big hits” instead of modern ones, potentially because there aren’t many sound systems led by young people at Notting Hill Carnival.
So Kamala founded the Sound Systems Future programme – in which she can pass down her knowledge to the next generation of sound system enthusiasts to use beyond the seminal West London spectacle.
“People always say, ‘No, we got to bring through the youth and all of that’,” she said. “But, I’ve watched over the years – being that kid growing into that adult – the emphasis moved more towards the adults, particularly on Carnival Sunday, which is supposed to be Young People/Children’s Day,” she said, wondering how this helps the next generation “grow”.
She continued: “Not everyone’s like me. I was born in Harlesden to Jamaican parents who moved and lived in Notting Hill. So it’s in my heritage, my lineage. However, the culture’s changing and I think it should be inclusive in that way.”
Kamala – who was the first-ever female to DJ at NHC – kicked off the year-long programme back in 2021 and nine selected people participated. Eli is a 23-year-old producer and DJ who has remained under her wing, and has now become an Assistant Producer for Lin Kam Art, working on projects at the Royal Albert Hall and British Museum.
Through his time with the Sound Systems Futures Programme, he’s learned that the biggest thing is fostering a community. “Obviously you’ve got the sounds and you’ve got the amazing music and the amazing atmosphere that it creates,” he said, “but amongst that is the community and the solidarity and the people being together.”
There is a fear that elements of Notting Hill Carnival have been held back by gatekeepers, leading many to question how seminal mas bands, DJ collectives and sound systems will continue after the current generation retires. But, Kamala enthused, “We’re not all gatekeepers, you know!”
She added: “People like myself are always looking for support, we’re always looking for like-minded people who are passionate. That’s the one thing those of us doing this type of work like; come and support us in whatever way you can.”
Despite concerns that not enough young people will continue the traditions and preservation of Notting Hill Carnival, a new generation is already making their presence known.
Janay Marie is the founder and managing director of Tallawah, a cultural events and consultancy agency that hopes to “bridge the gap between the amplification of Black talent and the rich cultural tapestry of the Caribbean diaspora.”
To achieve this, she teamed up with Notting Hill Carnival to create Carnival Conversations. Inspired by the British Caribbean experience, the event series is designed to strengthen the community around Carnival through honest conversations, networking and panels.
“Notting Hill Carnival is a pillar in British Caribbean culture that has been engraved in our culture way before I was even here,” Marie told NME, before suggesting that there should be “more events led by the actual NHC team” to reflect that Carnival is more than just two days out of the year. She believed all communities that partake in Notting Hill Carnival can learn from one another, and this was “partially why Carnival Conversations was born”.
“I am so happy NHC see the value in engaging with people properly,” Marie said, talking about her partnership with Notting Hill Carnival. “There are so many things I didn’t know… these things are getting lost because people are not talking about it, and I would love for NHC to be the driving force behind these really important conversations.”
Notting Hill Carnival will take place this Bank Holiday weekend (August 25-26). For those who need a map of NHC including popular sound systems and iconic landmarks such as Judging Point and The Tabernacle, you can download the official Notting Hill Carnival map here, powered by Trippin’.
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