Quiet in the bustle: intimacy at Notting Hill carnival photo essay
Briefly

Notting Hill Carnival offers an open, vibrant, and welcoming atmosphere that fosters rare communal connection in a city often perceived as cold. Two days of food, music, and chance encounters create pockets of intimacy and joy across a sprawling route of sound systems such as KCC, Gladdy Wax, Aba Shanti-I, Rampage, King Tubby, and Deviation. The event includes street parades, food on Golborne Road, and private vantage points above Ladbroke Grove where friends gather. The carnival faces financial strain after organisers required a £1m emergency boost for stewarding, raising concerns about long-term sustainability and governmental recognition.
It's the best weekend in London a reminder of the city at its most open, vibrant and welcoming. After two days immersed in Notting Hill carnival, eating too much food, bumping into old friends, and skanking to reggae and dancehall, I'm left smiling at an event that fosters a rare sense of connection in a city so often accused of being cold.
I've always wondered what carnival felt like from above the street, and with a plate of curried goat and a Magnum in hand, I get to see. Maya's living room is a time-capsule of a flat and bursts with character, its yellow crackled walls lined with vintage movie posters and musical motifs. As friends arrive and begin to mix their drinks, it dawns on me how many iterations of this ritual this living room must have seen.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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