MY CARNIVAL WEEKEND 2021
By Bethan Dadson
August Bank Holiday weekend calls for Carnival celebrations. Every year, visitors and locals line the streets of Notting Hill for a two-day party in a colourful celebration of Caribbean culture. However, this event, much like our lives, has been placed on hold for the past two years due to COVID-19.
Nevertheless, that didn’t stop other events popping up to fill the void for the people that were missing this Carnival season. I wanted my bank holiday weekend to be jam-packed with events so that I wasn’t feeling sad about another year of no carnival – also the fact that I get MAJOR FOMO doesn’t help. Here’s what I got up to:
Friday 27th August – Recess
Recess is best known for celebrating culture with Black Brits in London. Whenever you go, you just know that it will be a vibe. It’s nice to bump into familiar faces – some people that you haven’t seen in years, and some people that you saw the previous weekend at another event.
It was completely rammed, everyone was squish-up like sardines. All I could think is “Damn, I’m really getting the true carnival experience” (IYKYK). Usually I wouldn’t have minded, but since being in lockdown for such a long time, there’s a certain anxiety I get when people’s sweaty bodies are touching me and hands are flying everywhere. My friends and I stayed close together to try get to the upstairs part where there was a lot more space to dance and move freely, and we had such a good time.
I would say though, lockdown has contributed to the struggles of me staying up past 12am, and I was thinking of my bed from about 23:30. We stayed for 2 hours before going home, because I had a festival the next day anyway. This was the warmup, but I know if I had more energy, I would have had the best time. Overall, I give this experience 8/10.
Saturday 28th August – Yam Carnival
Where to start? First of all, this was a SMADE event… need I say more? I guess as a festival overall and post-lockdown, it wasn’t THAT bad (imo) but it could have been because I had low expectations. I went with some great people, and saw soooooo many familiar faces. I loved the fact that it was so local to me (Clapham Common) and was very easy to get to. Even getting into the festival took us about 20 minutes!
However, there were some major improvements that need thinking about for future festivals. Sound system was quite poor on the main stage, I even saw a tweet describe the music being played on a BEATS Pill (LOL). But in the small tent, I saw Midas The Jagaban perform, and the sound system was great! We were at the front, vibing and having the time of our lives.
We went back by the main stage and got drinks, whilst watching NSG perform from a distance. Again, sound system wasn’t GREAT but they could be heard, and they played my favourite songs which was great. Then it was time for Beenie Man and everyone rushed to the centre. Again, from being in lockdown for so long, the anxiety that ran through me when I thought of going in the centre cringed me out so hard, so I stayed at the side.
About 30 minutes before I decided to leave, I went to get food and was queueing for a pretty long time. But as I was waiting in the queue, I heard that there were no more chicken burgers left. And as someone that doesn’t eat beef or pork… that was the tipping edge for me. I had to go home because I knew I would faint from hunger. (YES, I’M DRAMATIC) I also heard that they were serving jollof rice for £20??? SMADE, please confirm before I start throwing labels like “crook” and “villain” around.
Although I had a great time, my experience definitely could have been better if the food wasn’t extortionate and we didn’t have to line up for hours, if the sound system was better and if it was a much more organised event. Overall, I’ll give the festival a 6/10.
Sunday 29th August – Recess (25+)
OK, now this day party made up for the atrocities from the day before. When I tell you this was THE best Recess event I’ve ever been to, I mean it! First of all, they sold out Boxpark Wembley (big up the Recess team… do you know how big Boxpark Wembley is?!) and it was so great seeing so many beautiful Black faces enjoying themselves and having fun. The DJs were on point, everyone was nice, I had so many pretty girls come up to me and say that I’m pretty (vain moment) and yet again, saw some familiar faces. And then, as my sister and I are singing along to Davido ‘If’ with our whole chest, we hear a whole load of screaming and… DAVIDO ACTUALLY CAME OUT ON STAGE?!!! It was so surreal because it was extremely unexpected. I was so happy because I missed seeing Davido at Yam Carnival due to leaving early, but the sound system was better at Recess anyway so…
I would say that having Recess in Boxpark definitely added to the experience; great food spots, tasty drinks, ping pong and pool table, chill out areas, 360 booth and so much more. This experience was defiinitely 10/10.
Enjoyment was on point this year, but I still do miss the authenticity of Notting Hill Carnival. With lockdown restrictions slowly lifting, we can only hope that NHC comes back bigger and better in 2022, with wicked pre-gaming at amazing events for the culture.