Notting Hill Carnival

The Notting hill Carnival, held every year on the first bank holiday weekend of August represents so perfectly the complex and often self defeating attitude many Londoners, and the British in general have toward their own country.

The carnival itself is a wonderful celebration of multiculturalism and ethnic diversity. The Notting hill area being one of the most culturally diverse spots in the city, with a huge afro/ Caribbean population, as well as Spanish, Latin American and Portuguese, is turned into a procession route for sound systems, food stalls and costumed revelry. All of these elements come together perfectly in a flash of brightly coloured kaftan tops, and a celebration of food dance and music.

The carnival however is often a yearly target for those who wish to comment on the decline of values and respectability. The annual cost of the carnival is often cited as a sore subject, as well as the damage caused, and the consequent clean up. The cost is around £8 million . What people fail to recognise however is the annual profit of £95 million, the massive influx of tourism, and the city being viewed, as a result of the carnival, as a generally progressive and accepting place to live whatever ethnicity you happen to be.

This uniquely British sensibility, in which it is seen as good form, necessary even, to be so critical of the city, even the country you live in is at times infuriating. The city of London is possibly one of the most progressive and culturally diverse places on earth. There are few cities where so many races and religions rub shoulders together, the carnival is the pinnacle of this, a celebration. It falls prey all to easily to those select few belligerents who would claim that Britain is better place for remaining racially pure. Unaware that the multicultural aspect of the city is the thing that has kept the country afloat long after most of our industries have collapsed.