The Guardian
Notting Hill carnival will partner with Glastonbury festival for the first time this year, filling the site’s already colourful walkways with Caribbean floats and processions.
Until the Covid-19 pandemic, the carnival had been staged every year by west London’s Caribbean communities since the event coalesced in the mid-1960s – eventually becoming Europe’s largest annual street party. However, it has not been staged since 2019 after two carnivals were cancelled owing to Covid fears. Livestreamed events were held online in their place.
Glastonbury therefore marks the return of the carnival to in-person revelling, ahead of its full return in its usual home for the August bank holiday. Matthew Phillip, chief executive of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, said the two events held “many of the same beliefs and represent the country on a global scale … it’s going to be great”.
Utilising an electric carnival float, there will be emissions-free parades through the festival site with a sound system playing Caribbean tracks, trailed by dancers, “mas bands” playing live music, and stilt-walking moko jumbies. After the processions, there will be concerts from the Mangrove Steelband, eight-time winners of the Panorama steel band championship held during the yearly carnival celebrations.
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