00:00 was Vernon Fellows Williams. He was a founding member of Notting Hill Carnival in 1964.
00:05 He was a musician who came from Trinidad to study dentistry and ended up ditching it for music
00:11 and became a musician travelling all over Europe. When he came back to London, him and some friends
00:17 came down into Labrador Grove onto Alclin Road and that's been noted as the first street carnival in
00:22 Notting Hill. Carnival's born out of a resistance and so carnival was used to protest and to rebel
00:28 against oppression and the authorities who didn't really, you know, there was a lot of racism at the
00:32 time so it was used as a tool to communicate that. Essentially at the core of it is about unity,
00:38 it's about culture, it's about tradition, about artistry and about bringing people together.
00:44 My favourite thing is costume, family and rum.
00:48 Firstly, Notting Hill Carnival is a celebration of diversity. It's a tapestry of colours,
00:55 sounds, rhythms that we together unique identities of countless communities of cool London home.
01:02 Where flavours of the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and beyond blend harmoniously to showcase the
01:09 true beauty of multiculturalism. My parents came in that wind rush, they're part of that wind rush
01:15 generation, they're both past now, but they came over in that period and it's the 75th anniversary
01:23 this year. So for me it's hugely important to celebrate Caribbean culture and the contribution
01:31 of people from those Caribbean islands who sacrificed everything to give their families
01:39 and their children better opportunities. That's why my family came here. My favourite thing about
01:45 carnival is the steel bands. I love the feathers and the bikini costumes as well but it's those
01:52 character costumes that I really think encapsulate what carnival is about. So I like all of it,
02:00 I have to say. The first time that I was aware that I was at carnival, I was with my dad,
02:06 I was only little and I could hear something far away and I wanted to see what it was.
02:10 I know now it was a steel band, they didn't know what it was at the time, I didn't grow up in that
02:13 environment. And so then it was very much my dad and his friends, it was very much a Caribbean
02:19 thing and stuff like that. Now it's much more multicultural, it's much more diverse, but what's
02:25 important is that it's a celebration of Caribbean arts and Caribbean culture and that we're keeping
02:31 the essence and what's real about carnival. When I think of Notting Hill Carnival, I feel pride,
02:38 I feel strong and I feel like I belong and that I have a family. Notting Hill Carnival makes me feel
02:48 fabulous. Carnival makes me feel
02:51 happy, yeah.
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