The Notting Hill Carnival

After being (gently) chastised by my mum and grandma for not updating enough, I have decided to try and step up my game. And since they are two of maybe ten people who read this blog, I guess I had better give them what they want… ;)

I’ve never been a big dancer. I mean, get a few drinks in me and put me with the right group of people, and I will dance the night away. Maybe it’s because I am not a huge fan of dance music; maybe it’s because I feel like a newborn foal when I try to dance with any kind of coordination. Whatever the reason, most of the time, I am more than happy to stand on the sidelines and let other people have the fun.

So of course, last weekend, Adrian and I decided to check out the dance-centric Notting Hill Carnival, the largest festival in Europe. It is a giant celebration of Caribbean culture – and when I say giant, I mean giant! They close down the entire neighborhood of Notting Hill and flood it full of people, music, food, sequins, and booze.

When we first got off the train, we followed the crowd of people streaming down the road. Some were wearing flags of Caribbean nations, some were blowing whistles and vuvuzelas, and some were bedecked in Carnival garb – feathers, rhinestones, and shiny fabrics.

The crowd isn't even that bad in this picture!

After being carried along by the flow of revelers, we made our way to the center of the carnival. We fought the crowd for some jerk chicken, coconut rice, and roasted corn and then perched on the roadside to eat. The chicken was super yummy, although not as spicy as we had hoped, and the roast corn was amazing! Buttery, salty, and sweet – I was a happy girl (Adrian assures me that the rice was tasty as well, but I cannot vouch for that, since I hate coconut).

When we finished eating, cursing the fact that we didn’t bring wet wipes as we were advised, we decided to check out the parade. Let me tell you, it was not a normal parade – this parade began at 9am and finished at 7pm! It stretched for miles, full of buses pumping out reggae music followed by dancers in feathers and sequins. The music was so loud that as the buses went by, I could literally feel the music course through my entire body. With every beat, I could feel my bones jump. It really was fantastic! Though in hindsight, perhaps we should have brought ear protection…

Steel drums on one of the buses. They were really good!

 The dancers were amazing, not because they were doing any spectacular moves (although I’m not sure I could shake my booty as low as they could) but because you could tell that they were doing what they loved. And the costumes! Most of the girls were wearing feather headdresses roughly two feet tall in all sorts of explosive colors, and bikinis to match, covered in sparkles, fringe, and more feathers! Everywhere I looked was another bright color, another twinkling outfit – it was an ADD girls dream!

Some dancers taking a break. I wish I could have got a dancing picture, but it was impossible to push my way through the crowd.

Some of the other costumes were even more extravagant! People looked as if they were wearing small parade floats! One dancer had a giant blue headdress covered in blue and black feathers that must have been five feet tall and at least three feet across! How she managed to keep in on in the crowd while dancing, I am sure I don’t know. Another group of dancers had outfits that wrapped around their entire bodies – waves of gossamer fabric that changed from blue to green depending on how you looked at it. The fabric was made into eight foot long wings, which the dancer spun around, making them look as if they were flying down the road. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Another thing I thought was great about the dancers is that there were so many different body types. There were skinny girls, large girls, white girls, black girls, girls with big butts, and girls with no butts. All the dancers were super confident in who they were and they were there to celebrate and dance! I have to admit, I was a little envious. I hate wearing a bathing suit in the water; I can’t imagine being able to go out in public in one and dance! It was inspiring.

Drum line

We followed the parade for a while, but eventually decided that the crowd was getting to us, so we tried to leave. We were unaware that once you are at the carnival, you are there for good! It took us probably forty-five minutes to find a gap in the parade and make our way out of Notting Hill. And it is a good thing we left when we did. As we were leaving, we passed throngs of people making their way toward the festival!

I wish I had more photos to share, but unfortunately, this was my view a lot of the time. Curse being short!

 All in all, it was an amazing afternoon that overwhelmed the senses! I am really glad we went and we had such a fun time, although I don’t think Adrian and I will be booking a ticket to Rio anytime soon.