Many people are concerned that the cultural legacy of the Notting Hill Carnival may soon be lost due to proposals to ticket control and strip community control.
The system of Notting Hill Carnival has yet again been questioned, this time by London Assembly member Susan Hall. The Tory politician is proposing to ticket Notting Hill Carnival and hand over full control to City Hall and the Greater London Authority.
In a new report, Susan claimed the current format is a safety risk, warning of a “Hillsborough-type disaster” due to overcrowding. She shared a series of recommendations she believes would benefit the event, including setting capacity limits and introducing a ticketed system.
But this isn’t the first time Carnival has faced interference. The event, held every August bank holiday weekend, sees more than two million people flood the streets of West London. It has remained a free, community-led celebration since 1966 and many fear this new report could put all of that at risk.
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Susan responded, “Something must be done.” “It is one of the biggest events in the country, and yet it continues to go on in the same way.”
Hall suggested Notting Hill Carnival could be managed by City Hall in a similar way to the New Year’s Eve fireworks – a paid, ticketed event – as she believes this would avert disaster.
As part of the registration process, the report recommended that “every ticket, whether paid or free, should be linked to an individual’s billing address.” Additionally, it recommended a “alternative funding solution” to cover Carnival’s operating costs.
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In 2024, the festival was issued with an extra £1 million in emergency funding from the GLA, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster councils after organisers made an urgent plea for support.
Other recommendations included creating a Notting Hill Carnival Advisory Board made up of community representatives and moving the event to a location similar to Hyde Park. Many people believe her tone and track record contradict her assertions, despite the fact that she insists that stability and safety are her top priorities.
The organizers of the carnival have remained unwavering about how important it is that the event remain community-driven. Although Carnival is in fact community-run, organizers already collaborate closely with local authorities, councils, and the GLA.
They added that NHCL and its strategic partners have addressed and taken action on many of the issues raised in this report. Numerous changes have been caused by an independent review that NHCL conducted earlier this year and beyond.
Susan Hall was even invited to the Event Liaison Team (ELT) headquarters during this year’s Carnival to see the operation and meet the people who run it, giving her a chance to learn how it operates.
But it’s not just Carnival’s leadership defending the event’s place on the streets. The Mirror recently spoke to Carnival board director, Linett Kamala, who explained just how significant the location is.
Because there was a racist murder there, the Notting Hill Carnival was the main goal of changing the racist relations act, the author says. She explained to us that it was literally born on these streets.
The racially motivated murder that Kelso Cochrane, a 32-year-old Antiguan carpenter and aspiring lawyer, was the victim of on May 17, 1959, was the scene of. His murder shocked the neighborhood and, to this day, unsolved.
Over 1, 000 people gathered for his funeral to protest racism, the alleged police cover-up, and the lack of urgency from the authorities. Carnival was born later that year as a form of resistance, a practice that still exists today.
Susan’s report contains some good ideas, but the tone of the report reads more like an attack than it is a support for them. Particularly when compared to other high-capacity events like football games, which frequently feature more violent incidents, including police assaults, but never receive the same scrutiny.
Many people worry that this report isn’t really about safety, but rather controlling the particular crowd that Carnival draws.
Source: Mirror
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