Notting Hill Carnival

In 20 years of living nearby, I've never been to the carnival, so now was the time. Went early, wandered round, waited for the parade, was astonished by the volume of the music, saw lots of people enjoying themselves. Took lots of photos, too many. 

Kids, costumes, colour -

People having fun -

 

Entrepreneurship -

Queues at official loos were loooong

Whistles (colourful plastic) are essential

 An enigma (seen early in the day) -

Discovery - the "pano" photo on the ipad -

(Interesting to see what happens when people walk past with or against the photo being taken.)

Looking back down Ladbroke Grove to some of the sound trucks and all those people -

And a little story -

The girl was part of an Italian-speaking family standing nearby watching the parade. There were often long gaps between the sound trucks and their group of dancers, so even if you didn't chat with people near you, you sort of got to know them. The little girls were as good as gold, and this one - age 6 (no front teeth!) was sitting on the curb when she was spotted by two dancers, friendly young women, who pulled her up to dance. She was loving being part of the dancing, of the parade, but a bit overwhelmed, and her mother was taking lots of photos. At one point one of the dancers crouched down and showed the girl that she should be smiling, and I think she took that on board, because when the two dancers turned around, with her between them, for a special photo, all three had lovely big grins.

At another quiet point the younger girl (18 months?) walked across the road with sister and father in tow, to where a little boy who had started walking not long since was practising his new skill. Kids find each other and just start interacting, lovely to see.

The little boys' parents were swaying to the music and encouraging him to dance, and by gum, within a few hours he was definitely lifting his feet in time. He's got rhythm ... so did these guys -

A final crowd shot -