After a two-year break as a result of the pandemic, Notting Hill Carnival is returning to the capital this August Bank Holiday in a burst of colourful costumes, delicious food, and feel-good music.
In an announcement on their social media last night (February 10), the team behind the carnival confirmed the mas bands taking part in the parade on Sunday, August 28, and Monday, August 29. While the online versions of the annual carnival were a welcome break from our Netflix binges during various stages of lockdown, we’re very glad the parade will be ‘in real life’ once again.
A fiesta of Caribbean culture, Notting Hill Carnival 2022 will mark the return of epic sound systems, the high-octane parade, and delicious Caribbean food stalls across the long weekend. Jerk wings, roti, plantain, rice and peas, rum… Bring. It. On. Bank holiday Sunday marks ‘Dutty Mas’ – so named for the paint and chocolate thrown in the air along the parade route – while Monday will showcase beautiful and intricate costumes.
The event is free to enjoy from the sidelines, or you can buy a package to actually be part of Europe’s biggest carnival parade yourself. The bands listed in Notting Hill Carnival’s post above sell ticket packages each year, so look out for their individual announcements and launches.
Until 2020, Notting Hill Carnival had been an annual staple on West London’s streets for over 50 years – since 1966, in fact. Additionally, there was a BBC-broadcasted Caribbean Carnival at St Pancras Town Hall in January 1959, put on by activist Claudia Jones, which is one of the first iterations of the London-based Carnival we know and love today. It’s safe to say Carnival has been a jubilant fixture in our city’s calendar for a longggg time now, and will finally be back where it belongs.