Notting Hill Carnival: Windrush-themed bus to run to mark 75th anniversary https://t.co/VZxSUR5ahZ

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) August 26, 2023

This year’s event will feature a three mile long parade that will feature music, dance and steel bands. The chief executive of the carnival, Matthew Phillip has spoken of his confidence that this year’s celebration will be another amazing occasion, while London’s mayor Sadiq Kahn said, “Carnival is the embodiment of our city’s highest ideals, of how London’s diversity is not a weakness to be tolerated grudgingly, but a strength to be celebrated proudly. As a mayor of all Londoners, I will always do whatever I can to ensure this celebration of culture, identity and freedom continues to thrive.”

Notting Hill Carnival CEO Matthew Phillip ,who is entering his sixth year in the position, says ‘the eyes of the world are on us’. Will you be going this year?#NottingHillCarnival pic.twitter.com/3D0PssyxRw — London Live (@LondonLive) August 25, 2023

On Saturday in Emslie Horniman’s Park, the UK’s biggest steel pan competition and the UK national panorama Steel Band competition took place where performers played 10 minute compositions completely by memory. The carnival truly gets underway on Sunday however, with the opening ceremony in the morning, followed by the Children’s Parade, Adult’s Dutty/Fun Mas paint mayhem and then Sound Systems to close out the day.

On Monday, the day begins with the Adult’s Day Parade and will also feature Sound Systems, food stalls and live stages. This year’s live stages will feature performances at Soca City from 12pm-7pm and Powis Square Stage from 12pm-7pm. Often leaving acts until the last minute to ramp up excitement, this year’s confirmed performers include Shaggy who shot to fame in the 1990’s pop music scene.

.@MayorofLondon looks ahead to the world-renowned #NottingHillCarnival this weekend in today’s @EveningStandard https://t.co/F9pngTwwnr

— Mayor’s Press Office (@LDN_pressoffice) August 25, 2023

Began in 1966 by Rhuane Laslett , Notting Hill Carnival was conceived as a result of rising racial relations and attacks throughout the UK. Intended as a diverse celebration, Notting Hill Carnival’s main aim was to promote cultural unity.

The carnival is mostly free entry with certain events requiring a ticket and is located in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

2 years ago I made a documentary with FOREVER FILMS about growing up around West London free party culture – in light of official #NottingHillCarnival being cancelled we decided to put it out to the world@NOWNESS just put it as their pick of the week https://t.co/8NSSLDmqdT pic.twitter.com/jQ33Y0ez4O

— LAVA LA RUE (@lavalarue) August 28, 2020

In the video, Lava La Rue talks about the DIY rave culture in West London in the 90s. The Windrush movement that started in the 1950s brought an influx of Caribbean people to Notting Hill and Portobello.  At this time, ‘Caribbean people weren’t welcome in the clubs‘ so ‘had to move the party elsewhere‘. Elsewhere was the ‘crumbling West London terraces‘ that now cost around £4 million. At these ‘blues parties‘, Stranger Cole and Patsy Todd would blast out of the sound-system.

In West Born, La Rue tells us her parents arrived in England in the 1990s. Gone were the ‘blues parties‘ and in their place was an evolving rave scene based on a DIY community ethos. Lava La Rue talks about these days fondly, though she experienced them through the lens of childhood. ‘I was around sound-systems and thumping booming music from a very young age… [I was] the little kid running around barefoot while everyones on a trippy one‘.

It was an unorthodox childhood, but one she enjoyed thoroughly. So much so that she wanted to start putting on similar parties in her teens, desiring to ‘curate a space‘ that felt safe and shared the community values of the ones her parents went to.

In the documentary, she and musician Louis Culture discuss East v. West in terms of nightlife. Louis contends that East is ‘kind of winning’ at the moment, and Lava agrees ‘there’s been an attack on the arts in West… for some reason securing a venue in West is difficult to obtain… it’s the prices, they’ve not made it accessible to locals.’

Toward the end of the video, Lava La Rue stands on Tavistock Road talking listening intently to Leslie Palmer, Trinidadian community activist and one of the pioneers of Notting Hill Carnival back in the mid 1960s. Palmer’s vision was that people from different Afro-Caribbean communities would come together to make Carnival bigger and better. This was certainly achieved as Carnival is now a festival of  thousands from all different cultures.

Lava La Rue holds Carnival close to her heart, saying in Vogue that her first carnival was ‘in the womb‘. This intimate connection makes her documentary both authentic and inspiring to watch.