Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Day 2

It got chocka on the street real quick as it seemed that most of the people who stayed away on Sunday came on the Monday to make up for it. People were dancing from midday onwards and soon the party was jumping.

The street got so full at one point they had to block off the road. They had never done this before but it was pretty rammed so maybe it wasn’t such a terrible idea. Ultimately though, it created more problems than it solved as it generated a lot of tension between the police and the crowd that couldn’t get onto the street. Normally it just naturally dissapates as those that can’t handle it just leave. This has always worked in the past and so this interference in the natural flow of carnival just served to piss a lot of people off who in return were gave grief to the constables who would not let them through…

The police seem to be interfering in general more than they had in recent years which is strange to say the least as they worked out from previous experience that the more they muscled in the more more trouble it caused so why would they revert to a policy they know doesn’t work? The Carnival is a massive massive beast. You can’t control it, you just have to let it do its thing. You have to flow with it, not against it. It is always fine if you just leave it alone, but the cynic in me thinks they don’t want to leave it alone.

They want to stop it. They would rather it didn’t exist as its just a headache for them but they know they can’t just end it just like that so maybe they think if they show its a problem they can maybe persuade the authorities not to continue with it. They could never just stop it. There would be an outcry. But they can maybe slowly snuff it out. They already make it as hard as possible for people to get in and out, with what seems like a lot of unecesssary  herding, but it feels like this is deliberate to deter as many people as possible. They are also making it harder for the sound systems to get permits and licenses and one casualty of this year was Gaza’s Rockin Blues which was not there this year, the first time in 42 years.  They appear to be pricing people out of the market and this is how they will strip it down and shrink it. It is huge. Maybe it does need to be reduxed a bit but sadly it will be money that will dictate who stays and who goes which means that a lot of people, especially the local community who are such an integral part of it, might fall by the wayside.

99.9% of the crowd who attend carnival (apparently a million and a half people) are just there to have a good time and they have definitely come to the right place as the event excels at this. There is a tiny tiny minority who might be there for anti-social reasons but it is a minuscule fraction of the people present and this element exists at all times, in every society, bar none. It cannot be entirely eradicated. We are stuck with it but we don’t have to let it rule us. Over the course of the entire day on the Monday three people kicked off on the street and attempted to start a fight of some description. But they were all shut down by the security and peer pressure every time. They were contained, the music was stopped and each one was ejected from the proceedings. The crowd booed them. No-one was interested. No-one got involved. It was very professionally dealt with and that was that. Job Done. No police were involved. It was solved without them.

What I took from this is how easy it is for just one single person to derail everything, to harmony into discord and peace into violence. It is astounding when you watch so much joy stop in an instant just because one individual has a cobb on or can’t take their booze or whatever. I was however massively heartened to see how the majority of people just have no interest in violence in any shape or form. Most of us, nearly all of us, just want to hang out and have a good time. And we don’t care who you are as long as you want the same. And we refuse to let those few who do want to stir things up dictate how our lives are run. The party is going to continue, its just going to continue without you.

All in all it was another brilliant carnival and it is just such a massive celebration of life, pumped full of joy and is just incredibly uplifting and exciting. Dancing in the street in the middle of the day on a monday..when do you ever do that? Never. Which is why carnival must always exist. We need it. Human societies have always had annual events when everyone got wasted, partied for days and then went back to their lives, only to do it all again the following year. Maybe it was for harvest, or to worship the sun god or to celebrate whatever but it has been around since the beginning and it is integral to a happy existence. Every now and then you need to blow off some steam and so you might as well do it dancing your socks off at a sound system plonked down in the middle of the street.

Lto see the full gallery please click on this link: https://babycakesromero.com/notting-hill-carnival-2018/

Notting Hill Carnival 2018 – Day 1

I woke up at Midday (don’t judge) to see heavy duty rain pounding down on guys in flimsy waterproof(ish) jackets trying to put up the remainder of the disya jeneration sound system. On the street were a mere handful of very brave carnival attendees bracing the horrendous weather. It looked like it was going to be a washout. But ultimately you cannot crush the carnival spirit. It is more powerful than anything the skies can throw at it…

It stayed that way for hours and as a result it was probably the quietest carnival I have ever seen. The weather might have knocked out as many as quarter of a million people who stayed away as a result. You couldn’t blame em. It was grim but carnival was never for the feint-hearted. It is a magnificent experience but its a big beast and you have to be willing to get stuck in. Rain or shine. From the vibe on the street it was clear that this lot were not going to be put off by a bit of rain.

I did feel sorry for everyone who puts so much effort into putting it on and all the stall holders who are trying to make some money from the event, which is what the carnival was invented for in the first place. To give the local community an opportunity to earn some cash. After such a long hot summer it seemed a bit cruel but fuck all you can do about it. And soon enough, it didn’t matter. People were getting seriously stuck in to their daytime dance off. Normally the street is mainly used for walking along and here it was, as if my magic, transformed into a full-on street rave with a killer sound system with giant speaker stacks at either end of he road and around 2000 people jammed inbetween them all rockin out like their lives depended on it.

And just like in previous wet years the ones that didn’t shy away were the proper party people who aren’t staying away unless there is force 10 hurricane and even then they might still come along, just in heavier boots so they could still dance without getting whisked up in the air.

The  rain did eventually subside and the latter part of the afternoon was dry and all those bold enough to come in the first place were amply rewarded by another spectacular block party  from the Disya gang and Boiler Room.

The atmosphere was brilliant and nothing but good vibes all day. It was pretty full on as usual  and everyone went for it big time despite it technically being a warm up day. You always get to the end of sunday and you suddenly realise, oh shit, this is just Part 1, we gotta do all this again tomorrow! Having just got back from Lost village, this marathon race weekend was just hotting up…

Day 2 tomorrow…