notting hill carnival

Europe's biggest street festival took place in west London over the weekend, as more than a million people joined the party at Notting Hill Carnival. 

Usually the revellers will try to keep their distance from the huge numbers of police, but this year, amongst all the normal stories of arrests, a more feel-good video has emerged of police officers having a dance off with members of the public.

Notting Hill Carnival is an annual street party in its 49th year celebrating Caribbean culture, food, music and dance. Due to the huge numbers of people, the party atmosphere and the large amounts of alcohol and drugs knocking around, there were 6,000 police at each day of the event.

Although there were 279 arrests over the two days, there was no real violence and a police statement read that the festival "went very well" and crime was down on previous years. Along side this, an officer called PC Armstrong posted a link on Twitter to the video below with the caption: 'good community relations in my opinion'.

London is probably one of the greatest cities to study in. The multicultural community, the fast paced life and the varied entertainment makes London never a dull city. This week, I will present a number of small anecdotes I will never forget.

As England enjoyed its last Bank Holiday of the year, Notting Hill Carnival hit the streets of London with its usual colour and vibrancy, as even the rain managed to just about hold off.

Europe's biggest street festival covered the Notting Hill area in West London on Sunday and Monday, as more than one million people turned up to celebrate Caribbean culture. The annual carnival boasts colourful parades of floats and costumes, dozens of sound systems and enough jerk chicken to feed an army.

Since 1964 the carnival has been arranged by West Indian communities in London, and takes place on the August bank holiday every year. This year, due to the recent riots, there was a special sense of both concern and anticipation. There was a huge police presence making sure the carnival would be remembered as a celebration of London rather than the start of a second wave of riots.

"True Spirit of London"

Indeed, Mayor boris Johnson revealed that he hoped that the carnival would 'let the true spirit of London shine through', adding:

"It's right that the carnival goes ahead so we can show the world that the overwhelming majority of London's people are decent, law-abiding citizens who respect the law, love their city and want to celebrate our vibrant, diverse and historical culture."