‘Millions’ set to join carnival celebrations
Photography by street party’s chronicler hits giant screens
Friday, 28th August — By Dan Carrier
[Image: Ian Watts]
IT is Notting Hill Carnival weekend, and to mark the annual street festival, a new photography exhibition featuring the work of its chronicler Ian Watts has hit the giant screens at Outernet in Tottenham Court Road.
Mr Watts first took pictures as a teenager in 1976 and has returned every year since to capture the sights and sounds of Europe’s largest street party. He began his carnival project when he lived in a hostel in Harlesden and worked for a magazine as a clerk. A regular at the Metro Club in Westbourne Park, he got into dub and reggae, following Dennis Bovell’s Sufferer Sound System around, and so heading to carnival was a natural progression.
He said: “It’s all about experiencing music, experiencing culture, reconnecting with friends.
“There is so much I get from it, the buzz, the cultural experience.
“Initially, I went for the music but now I go with a sense of it being important to document what is happening. I didn’t start out to do that but I feel it is important to track how carnival has evolved down the years.”
Mr Watts wanted to break into journalism, so picked up a camera and hit the streets. He said: “Carnival is a key part of our shared culture, a celebration that brings so many benefits, both artistically and economically to London and beyond.”
More than 3,000 stewards will be on duty during this year’s carnival, double the usual number. Organisers say they are using an extra £4.6million grant from City Hall to bring in increased safety and crowd control measures for the event, the 60th anniversary of the street parade.
Millions are expected to join the celebrations that begin tomorrow, Saturday, around 4pm. Sunday is family day with the official opening ceremony on the Great Western Road and floats and sound systems will follow the parade along its traditional route though Kensal Road, Ladbroke Grove, West-bourne Grove and Westbourne Park from midday to 7pm. The main event is on Monday starting at 10.30am. Ladbroke Grove tube station will be shut all day. Notting Hill, West-bourne Park, Holland Park, Royal Oak will be exit only between 11am and 6pm.
