Inspired Shimmies Blog ♥: Notting Hill Carnival Snaps

Well its that time of year again and carnival has come and gone already. Wow! As usual, the largest street festival in Europe was enjoyed by over a million people from the UK and beyond. These people, including myself all went to carnival to soak up and celebrate the authentic Caribbean vibes that this event has to offer. Just the smell of the jerk chicken sizzling through the atmosphere; the loud sound systems pumping

out heavy tunes to gear up the crowds; the flamboyant parades and dancers on their floats lighting up the streets of West London, make carnival what it is today: a great event to be enjoyed by all!

I'm more than sure that the founder of the original Notting Hill Carnival held in 1959, would be proud of what it has become. Claudia Jones, aka the "Mother of Notting Hill Carnival" organised the first one in a small town hall to improve race relations in London during the '50s. Well who knew that today, her event would still be flourishing, not only saluting cultural diversity in all forms, but publicly recognising the Caribbean islands and universal culture?

This year the sun came out which added to the atmosphere, as it was sizzling hot!!! It got me up dancing and drinking (oh yeah!) My ears may have stopped ringing from the loud sound systems and my feet no longer hurt from all the walking and dancing, but the happy memories still remain, including the following snaps (photos) I took on the day. Long live Notting Hill Carnival!