Notting Hill Carnival

 "Now everybody watch disssssssss, iz ah bacchanalist! Iz ah bacchanalist."

Oh, my gosh, Notting Hill Carnival made
history with my carnival history. I want you to enjoy the pictures and stories, but first I must explain why Notting Hill Carnival and London is amazing.

1) The security (police) is amazing. Legit, NO one can come in the parade if you don't have a costume. They treat us like royalty.

2) Other than Jamaica, London is the only place where the police officers HAPPILY dance with the masqueraders and don't have to worry about media scrutiny.

3) This is probably the most important reason of why I rate Notting Hill Carnival. Notting Hill is a community in the UK. When you get off the train or arrive in that area, you see street names that say "Carnival". Have you seen that ANYWHERE else? I asked my cousin why and she said carnival has always been important in the UK. People are handing out pamphlets and brochures of better routes for non-masqueraders to go to so they don't enjoy the carnival from places that was already assumed to be packed. It tells you history, what to look forward to. The point is, London treats their carnival with esteem and importance. They take pride in the history of Notting Hill Carnival. Boston, NYC, for example, usually have to fight to get a carnival every year.

4) NO violence. Occasionally there were fights amongst the non-masqueraders (I want to partially blame that on drunkenness since it IS bacchanal). Still, I'm used to shootings, stabbings in Boston and NYC.

5) The UK people LOVE carnival. THOUSANDS of people travel all the way to Notting Hill to watch the masqueraders. There was not one block I passed where white girls weren't drinking on their porches, doing the white girl wines, jumping up to the music as each sound truck passed by. It was really a movie.

6) The masqueraders are actually important!

7) The crowd and the masqueraders are VERY diverse. I've never seen so many white and Asian people in any carnival crowd. They bring their kids, their whole families.

8) The route for Notting Hill Carnival was by far the LONGEST route ever experienced. However, I totally did not notice until we got to the stretch because I was having such a good time. That's how you deem a carnival WICKED.

9) Masqueraders aren't afraid to dance too hard. They aren't worried about messing up their hair or make-up. This is important for me because jumping with girls that care about their appearance in circumstances where you're SUPPOSED to sweat and dance and enjoy yourselves annoys the hell out of me. I call those girls party poopers. They don't BELONG in a carnival, or a party much less!

10) EVERYBODY enjoys themselves. It's not only a spectacle. Both the crowd and masqueraders dance and have a great time. The crowd finds the masqueraders entertaining all by itself.

Everything I said in these 10 points you WILL see reflected in the pictures below. Enjoy the pictures!

Yes, that is real. Bathroom break! Lol.

They call this the "Trinidad Corner"

"I fete in de night, then go on de road
we nuh stoppin, ah going whole day."

Carnival spirit baby!

The designer of my section: Symone

THIS is only the last stretch! ONE-FOURTH of our route. 

You can't even see where carnival ends!

I had such a wonderful time. My girls Hannah and Zoe (whom I just met in person on carnival day) were very welcoming AND fun. I didn't know anybody in the Genesis band, yet everyone moved like family. If you ever make it to London for carnival, play with Genesis! Symone is an awesome designer. I LOVED my frontline costume. Until next year lads!