Notting Hill Carnival 2021

27 July 2021 - Press release

Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, the organisers of the Notting Hill Carnival are delighted to announce a series of official events throughout August to raise funds for the Carnival Trust Fund - which will help support the Carnival community to bring a spectacular Carnival back to the streets of Notting Hill in 2022 and beyond. 

The events will celebrate the culture and heritage of the Carnival, with the people and bands who create the sounds, sights and electric atmosphere of Europe's largest street event and the world’s second largest Carnival. 

On 19, 20, 21 August there will be Carnival Culture In The Park, three unique live ticketed shows held at Opera Holland Park. In partnership with Kensington and Chelsea Festival and Carnival Village Trust, traditional Carnival music will be performed within its beautiful open-air settings and will showcase the best in both traditional and contemporary Caribbean musicians alongside traditional opera.  

Doors open at 6.30pm with performances from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Tickets are £10 and go on sale July 28th here. Each evening's events are... 

19 August - Classic Calypso

An evening that highlights the UK Calypso scene featuring artists such as Giselle Carter, G String, Helena B and Alexander D Great. The performances are set against a 6-piece acoustic live band. 

20 August - Pan in the Park 

An opportunity to bask in the ambience of steelpan with the UK’s leading Steelbands Mangrove and Ebony. Pan in the Park will be the ultimate musical journey from classical to modern contemporary and will feature newly arranged material performed live with Opera Soprano singing sensation Anne Fridal.  

21 August - Pan Jazz

An evening of Caribbean Jazz featuring the Engine Room Collective performing with the finest steelpan musicians, Andre White, Leon ‘Foster’ Thomas, Samuel Dubois, Carlene Etienne and Deborah Eden. 

And throughout August, The Tabernacle (Powis Square, W11 2AY) will play host to a series of free Carnival events. 

1 August - Mas Costume Showcase

Flamboyant displays and performances from some of Notting Hill Carnival’s favourite Mas bands including Mahogany, Fanatics, Creed, Genesis, Hot Wax, Soca Massive and many more to celebrate the culture and history of Carnival. 

Soca Fridays

Will take place from 6pm - 10pm every Friday from 30 July. With a selection of Carnival’s best loved Soca DJ’s playing each night including Crediable, Price Vern, QT 2Hype, Waynes James, DJ Bostman, Nassen, DJ Triple M, DJ Tate, DJ Vern, Flagz Sound, Urban Touch and DJ Fats. 

Sound System Sundays

Starting on 1 August and each week from 2pm - 6pm a legendary Sound System of Notting Hill Carnival will play an exclusive set. Confirmed performers include Love TKO, 4 Play, Arts A Light, Rough But Sweet, Disya Jeneration, G.I Roadshow and Lord Gellys. 

Also supporting the Notting Hill Carnival Recovery Fund is ‘Carnival - A photographic and testimonial history of the Notting Hill Carnival’ edited by Ishmahil Blagrove Jr with a preface by Margaret Busby OBE. This beautifully presented hard-back-coffee-table-book is the second edition of the 2014 book and tells the inspirational story of how this world-renowned event came to be and how it grew, dispelling the myths that have circulated over the years and pieces together the fascinating personal accounts of those who created it. Priced at £25, £14 from every book sold will go to the Notting Hill Carnival Trust Fund. Order a copy of the book now by contacting office@nhcarnival.org.  

To help get Carnival lovers warmed up for the various physical events, Spotify will continue its support for Notting Hill Carnival as an official partner for the second successive year, following the success of the streaming platform’s Carnival Sounds experience in 2020. As part of the collaboration, Spotify will once again launch a dedicated virtual experience with brand new content showcasing the importance of carnival culture in the UK, including playlists curated by each of the official sound systems and DJ’s of the carnival, podcasts covering a whole host of topics relating to Black culture in the UK, guest takeovers of some of the UK’s biggest dancehall, reggae, soca and afrobeat playlists, including the flagship Who We Be and much more. Carnival Sounds 2021 will launch ahead of the main event The Notting Hill Carnival Experience 2021 on 28 August. 

Matthew Phillip - CEO of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, says, “This series of events and the book play an extremely important role in supporting the bands and participants of Notting Hill Carnival, raising vital financial support to bring Carnival back on the road in 2022 and beyond. 

“Notting Hill Carnival belongs on the streets, but the Covid pandemic presented too much uncertainty to plan for a safe event over the August Bank Holiday weekend. It also put bands in a difficult financial situation that had the potential to close them down, despite decades of history. This was not acceptable so we (the board of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd) took the very difficult decision to create alternate options for 2021. 

“These events come from the community. They are authentic and the performances are by those that make Notting Hill Carnival so fantastic, many of them for decades. We want to thank them for their support in making these spectacular events. In turn, this will ensure Notting Hill Carnival thrives for many more years” 

Leroy Harris, Artist Marketing Lead, Spotify UK and Ireland commented: “Notting Hill Carnival is such an important celebration of Caribbean heritage for communities in London and beyond - we are really proud to support for the second year running. Carnival Sounds is all about providing a destination to celebrate all of the amazing elements that the Carnival offers - from the people and the music, right through to its cultural importance - for not just those with tickets to this year’s various events, but those celebrating from their gardens, homes, local parks and everything in between. We can’t wait for the jam packed schedule of events”.