Notting Hill Carnival celebrates its 60th anniversary this weekend

(25 Aug 2026) ASSOCIATED PRESS Archive: London - 29 August 2011 1. Tilt down from float to dancers on street 2. Dancers in green going past camera 3. Wide large crowds at Carnival 4. Wide drummers taking part in parade ASSOCIATED PRESS London - 20 August 2026 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Julian Henriques, Principal Investigator, Sonic Street Technologies: "Well, I wasn't really around in London when carnival began, because that was in the 50s. And that was a person called Claudia Jones who came from Trinidad, and she was a political activist there, and thought it would be a good idea to give the community, the West Indian community, that's I suppose what they'd call Windrush Generation, some basically special event, something to celebrate their, our presence in this country. And that's how, and she had, you know, she worked with other people, but she was in a way the leading light. And that is how it kind of developed as a small community festival." ASSOCIATED PRESS ++4:3 MATERIAL++ London - 29 August 1976 6. Various carnival with VOICE OVER (English): "The carnival got underway in typical Caribbean style. It's an annual event among the West Indian community and as it's grown in size and complexity over the years it has attracted increasingly large crowds." ASSOCIATED PRESS ++4:3 MATERIAL++ London - 29 August 1977 7. Various carnival ASSOCIATED PRESS ++4:3 MATERIAL++ London - 27 August 1978 8. Pull out group playing music 9. Pull out banner 10. Medium shot balloons ASSOCIATED PRESS London - 20 August 2026 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Julian Henriques, Principal Investigator, Sonic Street Technologies: "It contributes, if you like, an atmosphere of sharing. That we're proud of ourselves, we're proud of our music, right? We want you to enjoy it, too. And many of the crowd, you know, this is the English people, do enjoy it absolutely, because that's what they've grown up with. You know, we are talking, what, not 50, 60 years of Black presence in this country, right. It is part of us, right, and I'm very happy for that." ASSOCIATED PRESS London - 16 July 2026 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Tracey Palmer, The Mighty Jah Observer Sound System (who used to have a spot at carnival): "It was a Caribbean thing, then it became a cultural thing, and now it's international. We just spread, we just, we want you to enjoy our culture and that's how it's grown and it's grown and its grown and grown." 13. SOUNDBITE (English) DJ Mark Ross "The Boss" - sound system DJ: "Carnival is just a melting pot of the Caribbean islands that come together, the music, everything. It's just so fantastic. And I'm so happy and proud that it's lasted this long. And I hope it lasts another 200 years, 300 years, so people know what the vibe is when everybody comes together. But Ladbroke Grove's always been that melting pot of West Indian people." ASSOCIATED PRESS London - 20 August 2026 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Julian Henriques, Principal Investigator, Sonic Street Technologies: "It's a turning upside down of the world, right? These are the two days in which, if you like, the ordinary people can be monarchs and the monarchs can be ordinary people, to put it like that, a reversal of roles of the power structures and so on. And part of that is actually taking control of the streets. Because, right, you have public spaces especially actually, and unfortunately to say, for young Black people, historically, have not been a place for them, a place for us. And so the carnival offers an opportunity to literally own the streets." ASSOCIATED PRESS ++4:3 MATERIAL++ Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...