Notting Hill Carnival's 60th year celebrated on family day

As I walk into the heart of the 60th Notting Hill Carnival, the sun is shining and bouncing off the sequins, gems and sparkles of the costumes and decorations surrounding me.

Flags from all over the Caribbean and Africa have been hung from the windows of the houses and are draped over the shoulders of people passing by.

Everyone is dressed for sunshine, despite the rain that was forecast. It seems the spirit of Carnival has seen off those dark clouds.

The Sunday parade hasn't started yet, but the music is already pumping, and plenty of people are dancing, already covered in paint from J'ouvert, the traditional early-morning celebration which kicks off Sunday's festivities.

Today is all about families and the children. And they have certainly got the memo. There are children everywhere, all ready for the fun of the day.

Toddling past me is surely one of Notting Hill Carnival's youngest visitors. Triny-Savannah is just 18 months old, and is here with her mum Twinsy, all the way from Paris.

"It means a lot to be here," Twinsy says. She explains that her parents used to bring her and her twin sister, and now she's carrying on the tradition with the next generation.

"It's the celebration of the abolition of slaves, so it's a big day of memories," Twinsy says.

Sitting on the pavement nearby I spot eight-year-old Alex and his mum, Tiana. I soon find out it's Alex's first Carnival.

He has the biggest smile on his face and a water pistol loaded with paint.

"I haven't been for a long time," Tiana, from Enfield, explains, "but when I was younger I used to come religiously every year and it's nice to come back with Alex."

I ask Alex how he feels about the whole morning, and he says: "I love it. It's really busy, but then it's also like we're all together at the same time, so that's great."

Before the parade starts, I go in search of a snack and find a food stall tucked away from all the crowds.

The man being served ahead of me, Dave, bites into his snack and he's instantly in heaven.

"When I bite into this, I feel like I'm about to land in Trinidad and I'm looking out of the window at the beauty," he says, still with his eyes closed, imagining it.

He's eating "doubles", a street food snack of flatbreads filled with curried chickpeas.

The woman serving, Christina Bedau, asks if I want to try it. Of course I do. But, hold the extra spice please, as I'm useless with anything too hot.

Christina hands me her creation, and it looks great. When I taste it, I can see what Dave means, although, I think to make it a fair comparison, I should probably fly to Trinidad just to check he's being accurate.

Christina has been coming to Notting Hill Carnival with her food stall, Sweet Hand Cuisine, for the past seven years. She says she "has to come" because if she didn't, the regulars who come back every year would be "up in arms".

She estimates she'll sell at least 500 doubles this weekend.

Now the parade is well under way, and the swell of sound is all around us in the form of booming sound systems passing by on huge trucks, as well as dancers and steelpan groups.

Sunday's event is a much smaller version than the huge parade that will be here tomorrow, but this is still very impressive, and beautiful.

Heather is part of one of the passing floats, and tells me she is a steelpan player, although today she's "just partying" on her float.

"I arrived in this country in 1992 and I've been to every Carnival [since]," she says.

"This is about recharging and being immersed in my culture.

"We work hard and we want to play hard and just enjoy our culture," she explains before she disappears back into the crowd.

I spot a stall selling beautiful fans, and stop to buy one for my daughter. It's handmade, from Ghana, and Betty, who sells it to me, says it's made of cotton.

I then try to show Betty how to take card payments on her phone. But, it's already getting busy, so she may just have to rely on those with cash.

There will be around two million people visiting this part of west London for the carnival this weekend.

It is Europe's largest street festival and the second-largest carnival in the world, surpassed only by Rio de Janeiro's Carnival in Brazil.

It doesn't matter how many times I come to Carnival, I am always surprised at the complete transformation of this area. It's almost unrecognisable.

The floats travelling past me are full of life and music. I could take photos of this all day long.

The family next to me catch my eye, all kitted out in matching St Vincent's outfits.

Daniel's five-year-old son Asher has already got tired legs, so he's popped him on his shoulders. It could be a long day for Daniel's shoulders.

Daniel explains that his wife, Rachel, is from the Caribbean island and they have all just returned from their first family holiday there.

"It's great to represent St Vincent here," Daniel says. "This is a perfect kind of event," he adds.

I say goodbye to the family and realise the time. I have to head off to write about my day. I take another 50 photos, at least, on the walk back to Paddington station.

I spot a poster as I leave, which says: "Fund 60 more," and asks people to donate money, to keep Carnival going.

I wonder what Carnival will look like in another 60 years? Perhaps some of the children I met today will remember this big milestone for the festival, and tell their children about today, in another 60 years.

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