Notting Hill Carnival 2020 Is Set To Go Digital!

Following the news of Notting Hill Carnival being cancelled due to the pandemic, today, they’ve announced they will “going global” for the first time in its history.

Notting Hill Carnival: Access All Areas will be going digital this August bank holiday weekend (29th August – 31st August). Free to access, the live stream will consist of steel bands, sound systems, plus calypso, soca dancers, interviews with the people behind the event, plus food and drink shows!

The viewers will be able to tune in from 6pm on the 29th of August, where celebrations will carry on until 9am and 11pm on both the 30th and 31st August. The content for the digital takeover has been filmed over the past month!

Matthew Phillip​, the Executive Director of ​Notting Hill Carnival commented; “This year we faced the ultimate challenge of being unable to gather on the streets to celebrate our Carnival. But, now, more than ever, it’s important to keep the spirit of Notting Hill Carnival alive, giving an outlet to the thousands of people that spend all year creating incredible costumes and music for Europe’s largest event.

“Carnival is such an important part of people’s lives and key celebration of the multiculturalism of the UK, and we have a responsibility to our community and pioneers to honour that. We also have a responsibility to protect the black community and our elders by respecting social distancing and taking Carnival away from the streets for this year. So this is a fantastic solution for 2020. We may not be able to celebrate together on the streets as usual, but we can all come together to celebrate one of the UK’s great cultural events online.”

This is the first time Notting Hill Carnival hasn’t been staged on the streets of Notting Hill and Kensington since it was launched in 1966.