More than a million expected to 2010 Notting Hill Carnival

Second only to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Notting Hill Carnival is one of the world's greatest street festivals: a world-class example of diversity that celebrates ethnic diversity and freedom through music, movement and masquerade.

More than a million visitors can be expected to watch the thousands of artists perform over the two-day August bank holiday. The weekend is the high-spot of the carnival season, marking the culmination of a year of planning involving hundreds of grass-roots community organisations engaging over 50,000 young people and adults in artistic Endeavour’s.

The roots of the Notting Hill Carnival began in Trinidad where the first carnival was held in 1833 to mark an end to slavery in the Caribbean. During the late 1950s, a great many Caribbean immigrants traveled to the UK, bringing with them a wealth of culture, musical traditions and sumptuous cuisine.

The first carnival took place in 1964, encouraging people, both black and white, to go into the streets and express themselves socially, as well, as artistically. The spirit, courage and determination of the hundreds of London-based Caribbean people who fought for freedom and justice, have transformed the Notting Hill Carnival from a hazy dream into Europe’s premier cultural arts festival that is recognised throughout the world today. Notting Hill Carnival is “proud to be developing our relationship with the 2012 team, a partnership that we believe will provide many new commercial and community opportunities. The future of the Carnival is not only exciting; it is breathtakingly bright and ambitious.”

‘Notting Hill Carnival’ is a true landmark in the events panorama of London and the World. Everyone Carnival lover knows that it is completely unavoidable and outstanding.