Carnival is a festival that happens over a few days, usually just before Lent, in February or March. Because traditionally many people go on a fast during Lent, giving up meat, sugar or other foods and drink. Carnival is an opportunity to enjoy these treats for the last time.
Following the Second World War in 1948, the Empire Windrush carried almost 500 passengers from Jamaica, including Lord Kitchener, a calypso singer from Trinidad. By chance, a local newsreel company filmed him singing “London Is The Place For Me” as he got off the ship. In 2002, London Is The Place For Me was finally [...]
In general, temporary and mobile food stalls should apply for a food license with the right authorities. When purchasing food from a stallholder, look for healthy options first. If they are not available, consider bringing your own food to save money and calories. If you bring food to a Carnival from home, be sure to [...]
The first Notting Hill Carnival in 1965 was a multicultural affair with a parade and show. Participants included the New Orleans Marching Band, Ginger Johnson and the Afro-Cuban Band, Irish dancers and someone in a costume of Nell Gwynne from Madame Tussauds riding in a horse-drawn orange cart. There was also a variety show in [...]
The 1951 Festival of Britain brought the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TAPSO) and Roaring Lion to public attention. The smart set in Oxford and Cambridge adopted both calypso and steelband for debutante parties.
When Jamaicans emigrated to the United Kingdom, the sound system culture followed and became firmly rooted in the country from the 1970s. In Jamaican popular culture, originaly, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, dub, rocksteady or reggae music. Dub music grew out of reggae in the 1960s, [...]
quibbing is something very unique to Bridgwater and is by definition, the simultaneous firing of lots of large fireworks (“squibs”). A squib locally is a firework which is held aloft by a person known as a “squibber” on the end of a long wooden handle called a “cosh”. One hundred squibbers stand in line in [...]
The West Country Carnival Circuits are an annual celebration featuring parades of illuminated carts in the English West Country. The celebration dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The purpose is to raise money for local charities. These parades also take place in a variety of Somerset towns throughout November. What is believed to [...]
Founded by Pax Nindi who originally wrote and published the National Carnival Strategy, Global Carnivalz website is only Carnival site in UK which announces the UK Carnival season annually, run an agency for UK canivalists and feature regularly, jobs, funding and news relating to carnivals globally.
SN is the only independent regular publication which covers carnival events in UK and abroad but mainly focusing on Soca music.