Notting Hill Carnival makes 'bittersweet' return amid soaring costs

Billed as Europe's biggest street party, the annual Notting Hill Carnival carnival returns over Britain's August Bank Holiday weekend after a two-year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year the challenges facing organisers and participants are not nationwide lockdowns but soaring prices amid inflationary pressures blighting the country.

More than 1 million people are expected to take in the music, spectacular parades, dancing and food offerings at Europe's largest street party on Sunday and Monday.

The carnival, which celebrates Caribbean culture at the end of August every year, had to take place online for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ray Mahabir, 58, the artistic director at Sunshine International Arts (SiA) who runs the Mas Band studio, said the return of carnival was "bittersweet" given the economic situation.

Notting Hill Carnival CEO Matthew Phillips said a few bands were not going to be able to participate this year.

"Everyone is going through this cost-of-living crisis at the moment which ultimately means not as many people are able to buy costumes, which has a knock-on effect ... a lot of costume designers are not doing it to make a profit," Phillips said.

Mahabir said this year prices of everything had doubled, with a full costume set costing almost $1,185.

A weekend street party

Celebrations began on Saturday night, as more than 1,000 people gathered to watch a steel band competition in west London.

Crowds of young children blowing whistles danced down the streets with their parents on Sunday, traditionally a more family-friendly day than Monday. 

Some children stood on the doorsteps of their houses waving Jamaican flags.

Pepe Francis heads the Ebony Steelband Trust, which has been performing at the carnival for decades.

“Since the band has started, I’m on my fifth generation of people and there’s been a lot of changes,” he said. "But our members look forward to carnival every year and practice takes place regularly from year to year.”

“A lot of people have been waiting for it to come back,” Francis added.

The carnival traces its history back to 1958, when Trinidadian human rights activist Claudia Jones began organising a gathering to unify the community after a series of racially motivated attacks on West Indians in west London's Notting Hill neighbourhood.

The event has grown from a festival drawing several hundred people to a huge annual street party, with tens of thousands of performers in the colourful parade and more than 30 sound systems.

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