Performers parade on the first day of the Notting Hill Carnival in west London. A million revellers were expected to join Europe’s biggest street party the Notting Hill Carnival from Sunday, filling the city with reggae, steel bands and dancing. The Notting Hill Carnival honours London’s Afro-Caribbean culture in an area which was home to thousands of immigrants to Britain from the Caribbean in the 1950s onwards.
Notting Hill Carnival is underway with more than one million expected to attend the street festival over the next two days.
The biggest street festival in Europe will feature giant floats, thumping sound systems and flamboyant costumes as the children’s day event takes place today.
A carnival procession, which began at 10am, will travel from Westbourne Park Underground station to Ladbroke Grove.
Before the main carnival the J’ouvert event featuring a paint fight opened the event.
Organisers said this year marks the first milestone in the build-up to the event’s 50th anniversary in 2016.
The arenas will pay tribute to the steel pan, the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago which has played a pivotal role in shaping the carnival from 1964 to the present day.
But the organisation concluded that “documentary evidence” shows the first event with performers, costumes, music and placards occurred in 1966.
London mayor Boris Johnson said: “Carnival is a wonderful celebration and highlights what the Caribbean community does for London.
“This year there are two things which make it even more special - the 50th anniversary of steel pan and the free app which will guide you around the carnival route. I hope everyone has a fantastic time and a truly great event.”
Police officers had no choice but to get into the carnival spirit after getting covered in chocolate by the crowd.
The Chocolate Nation Mas float was followed by hundreds of people throwing liquid chocolate all over themselves as they danced along the streets.
Michelle Johns, 37, from Lincoln, who was watching the procession with her family, said the officers were quick to embrace the fun.
“As the float was coming round the corner the same police officers were being targeted,” she said.
“The group was spraying the chocolate around and going right up to them and spreading it on the officers’ faces.
“The officers were laughing the whole time - I don’t think there was much they could do.”
Theresa Smith, 69, who lives in South London but is originally from St Vincent in the Caribbean, helped to make costumes for children joining the South Connections band which took part in the procession.
She said: “I love the carnival, I’ve come every year since 1987. For two days of the year the streets of London are mine as a West Indie.
“The Caribbean community comes together and we celebrate. Celebrate the diversity, the culture, the mix of nationalities in London.
“Today I helped the children but tomorrow is my day, I’ll dress up in my costume, play in the band and be part of this great carnival.”
A gang crime crackdown in the run-up to the party has seen dozens of arrests and the seizure of guns, drugs and thousands of pounds in cash.
At 4pm this afternoon police said there have so far been 34 arrests within the vicinity of the carnival.
One person was suspected of carrying an offensive weapon, four people were arrested on suspicion of common assault and there have been 10 drugs related arrests.
Yesterday home owners in the area were seen boarding up windows in preparation for the crowds.
The annual celebration sees a 5km route through west London sealed off to traffic.
The Notting Hill Carnival honours London’s Afro-Caribbean culture in an area which was home to thousands of immigrants to Britain from the Caribbean in the 1950s onwards.
But in recent years, many have moved out of Notting Hill due to soaring property prices as it became one of London’s most fashionable districts, popular with wealthy foreigners.
The area’s modern bohemian charm was captured in director Richard Curtis’s 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill.
Sunday is children’s day at the carnival while the main event takes place on Monday, a public holiday in England.