Event    From /1/1959 

Notting Hill Carnival

1959, 30 January: a "Caribbean Carnival" was held in St Pancras Town Hall. This annual event was organised by Claudia Jones and directed by Edric Connor (husband of Pearl Connor). It featured calypso, steel bands, and a beauty contest. Jones organised a similar event every year until her death in 1964.

1966, August: The first outdoor multi-day event was held in Notting Hill.  This was organised by Rhaune Laslett and others from the London Free School.  Not being restricted to the Caribbean culture, it promoted cultural unity in the area. A street party organised for the local children turned into a carnival procession.

1973-5: Leslie Palmer was director and introduced many significant changes.

The origin story of the Carnival has caused some friction in the past. The Rhaune Laslett-O'Brien website (2025: a dead link) summarised some of the difficulty: “Ask anyone involved who owns carnival and they will say the same thing: the people. The trouble is, which people? Since Rhaune Laslett handed over responsibility for the carnival, the primary body organising the event has split, reinvented itself, then split again several times. It has been called the Carnival Development Committee, the Carnival Arts Committee, the Carnival Enterprise Committee and, at present, the Notting Hill Carnival Trust, which is itself riven by internal rows. Each group has its own version of the carnival's history and development.”

The London Museum's Origins is, one hopes, an even-handed telling of the story.

Mas (masquerade) is an important element of Carnival. mas bands work together to create coordinated themed costumes in which they parade and competing for prizes.

Sources include: Wikipedia.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Notting Hill Carnival

Commemorated ati

Claudia Jones

Unveiled during the Notting Hill Carnival, 2008.

Read More

Claudia Jones - Carnival Village

Carnival Village honours Claudia Jones, 1915 - 1964, publisher, political act...

Read More

Leslie Palmer

Leslie Palmer, 1943, pioneered the template for the modern Notting Hill Carni...

Read More

Rhaune Laslett-O'Brien

Unveiled during the Notting Hill Carnival, 2011.

Read More

Russell Henderson

A 'pan artist' plays the traditional West Indian steel drums.

Read More

Other Subjects

Woodford Green Men's Club

Woodford Green Men's Club

Either the club or its Harrier section was established in 1904.  Its origins are back in the 1880s when it was part of the sports section of the Woodford Green Working Mens' Institute.  More inform...

Group, Community / Clubs, Gender Issues

1 memorial
Queen's Head Inn, Southwark

Queen's Head Inn, Southwark

Coaching Inn. It's origin is uncertain, but in the 15th century it was owned by the Poynings family and was known as the Crossed Keys or Crowned Keys. It may have been renamed in honour of Queen El...

Building, Commerce, Community / Clubs, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Wandsworth Council EMAS

Wandsworth Council EMAS

Wandsworth Ethnic Minority Achievement Service. it works in partnership with schools, governors, parents and colleagues in the Wandsworth Children and Young People's Services Department to ensure h...

Group, Community / Clubs, Nationalism

1 memorial
Kensington & Chelsea TMO

Kensington & Chelsea TMO

Tenant management organisation for the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Group, Community / Clubs

1 memorial
Japan-British Culture Memorial Club

Japan-British Culture Memorial Club

We can find no information about this group so we guess it was short-lived and dis-banded once the memorial was unveiled.

Group, Community / Clubs, History, Japan

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Fire Brigades Union

Fire Brigades Union

From their website: "The FBU is one of the UK’s oldest specialist trade unions, with a proud history. Since 1918 the union has supported firefighters, influenced fire safety policy and won improved...

Group, Community / Clubs, Emergency Services

7 memorials