The partying at Notting Hill Carnival is moving into full gear on Monday as hundreds of thousands of revellers flock to west London.
Revellers will be basking in hot sunshine with temperatures expected to peak at 28C on the second and final day of Europe’s biggest street party.
The fun got underway on Sunday morning with the main street parade celebrating Caribbean culture and history.
Festival-goers adorned in jewels, glittery wings, belts, and headdresses danced along the streets of Notting Hill, followed by floats pumping out music as the event got underway with the Children’s Day Parade.
As Notting Hill Carnival entered its second day, bands and floats representing the Caribbean, African and Brazilian disapora paraded through the streets, as thousands of people lined the route.
Groups included Bajan Raw Licquer, Mahogany, Chocolate Nation, Mas Africa, Vincy Alliance and United Kreyol, which reflect traditions from Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominica and Haiti.
Brazilian performers from Paraiso Samba School, Batala and Dende Nation added to the line-up, alongside long-established UK community bands.
Londoners of all ages have taken to the streets this weekend, with around 7,000 Met Police officers on duty to keep revellers safe.
"It feels like a piece of the Caribbean right here in London,” said 34-year-old Maria James.
James Lewis, 41, who travelled from Birmingham, added: "It's amazing to see so many cultures coming together."
Side streets were lined with rows of food and drink stalls serving fragrant jerk chicken, curry goat, Red Stripe beers and rum punch cocktails on Sunday.
Towering sound systems and stages, including one for BBC Radio 1 Xtra, were set up playing reggae, dub and drum and bass, with groups of friends, some in costume and others wearing their country’s flag, dancing around them.
The Metropolitan Police said as of 7.45pm on Sunday, there had been 140 arrests – 105 at the carnival and 35 on approaches to carnival as a result of proactive policing interventions.
Fifteen arrests were for assaults on police – with one officer requiring hospital treatment for injuries to their hand – while there were 21 for possession of an offensive weapon, 25 for possession of cannabis and six for possession of class A drugs.
Four people were arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and two for robbery.
Thirteen arrests were made after suspects were identified using live facial recognition technology, which is being deployed at the carnival for the first time this year.
The technology uses drones that can identify individuals from up to 80m (260ft) away, which then feed images to officers.
About 7,000 officers are being deployed across the capital over the bank holiday weekend to police the annual extravaganza.
The TV chef and personality, Big Zuu was one of the thousands of Londoners partying with his friends at the event. The 30-year-old explained he had been coming to carnival since he was one year old and has taken part in the floats.
The rapper described Notting Hill Carnival as a “celebration of black culture in England which we need right now”.
He said: “We have got these idiots putting up English flags. We’re all British, we are part of Britain, this is a multicultural country.
“This is the best celebration of multiculturalism in the country.”
Meanwhile, the world’s fastest man and eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt made an appearance at King Tubby’s sound system as he brought the spirit of Kingston to Notting Hill.
Claudette Sparen, 61, has been coming to Notting Hill Carnival over the last 25 years and says this year is her eighth.
Originally from Curacao but living in Holland, the medical worker said she loved everything about the festival.
She said: “The people are so nice, so polite, so happy – they are the best people I have ever met.
“We love to be here.
“It’s bigger (than before) and there are a lot of young people. Everybody is having fun and you see different culture together; I love that.
“I have never seen anything dangerous.”
Lucky Thomas, 50, from Hackney, designed and created the costumes and organised the Perpetual Beauty float for children and adults.
He told the PA news agency: “I have been making costumes for 40 years.”
He has also personally paid for children to take part in the Hackney Carnival.
His friend Sabina Challenger, 47, also from Hackney, took part in the float with her child.
She said: “Carnival is about unity and about bringing people together, about reminding the community what the West Indian community has brought to the UK.
“It also helps us to remind us of where we came from. It stems from slavery and oppression but it’s a celebration in terms of how far we have come in not just the UK but the world.
“There is negative to everything. But the idea is that those are always a small group of people. To allow those small groups of negative individuals to then be the message of what carnival is, I think that’s really unfair.
“This is something to be celebrated and it should remain in place.”
Crowds of revellers had gathered for the colourful J’Ouvert opening event and the children’s parade early on Sunday, while decorated floats began to make their way around Notting Hill.
Streets in the west London community were awash with colour as J’Ouvert – which means “daybreak” in French Creole – marked the start of the celebrations over the Bank Holiday weekend.
The opening event kicked off at 6am and saw people cover each other in paint, coloured powder and chocolate.
Fast-paced drumming could be heard and felt before the first parade arrived, decorating the street with flutes, brass instruments, steel drums, dancers and costumes including giant colourful wings.
Crowds gathered under bright blue sunshine for the children’s parade later in the morning.
Festival chairman Ian Comfort told attendees on Sunday morning he was pleased the carnival was happening after its future was in jeopardy following funding challenges earlier this year.
A review looking into crowd control at the carnival earlier this year, which was supported by the Met Police, found more funding was needed to safely hold the event in 2025.
Although organisers pleaded with the Government for support with additional funding requirements, they made the decision not to provide any financial support to this year’s event.
Emergency funding was provided by Kensington and Chelsea council, Westminster City Council and the Greater London Authority to ensure safety recommendations could be met for the event.
On both days of the carnival, a 72-second silence was taking place at 3pm to remember the people who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire, as well people who have lost their lives at Carnival in recent years.
All major music and sound systems were switched off for three minutes on Sunday to commemorate the victims of the 2017 fire.
Grenfell Tower remains clad in scaffolding and towers over the carnival route.
On Monday, Kensington and Chelsea Council said an estimated 150 tonnes of rubbish was cleared after the first day of festivities.
The council expects 300 tonnes to be collected over the weekend, with 180 staff and 45 vehicles working overnight.
The clean-up will continue on Monday night to prepare the area for normal business on Tuesday morning.
