Notting Hill Carnival 2024: all you need to know ...The Standard podcast

the August bank holiday weekend brings a feast of music to West London as noting Hill Carnival marks its 56th year the celebration of Caribbean culture runs over 3 days with musical styles from SOA to dance hall and so much more for over 2 million expected revelers the standard podcast is joined by sound system Pioneer and Notting Hill Carnival director Lynette Kamala whose Lin cam art sound system Futures program is helping develop the next generation of live music experts from DJs to sound Engineers when we spoke Lynette was in PS Square putting the finishing touches to her dubstep Focus collaboration with Trojan 7 sound system and aged 15 lyette was one of the first female DJs to perform at Notting Hill Carnival in 1985 I'm a child of Jamaican parents who both settled in the noting Hill area in the late 1950s my dad was a musician and my mother was a teacher later on and um so I was always around music and I came to my very first nottin Hill Carnival probably when I was around maybe five years old I was being carried on my father's shoulders I've never forgotten really the kind of impact of just seeing that that area the local area with so many people and sounds and smells and all of that uh so that would have been the early 1970s probably around about 1975 then 1985 I became the first girl at the time to DJ at the carnival at a sound system so there was a bit of a fuss cuz there was like loads of people taking pictures I have to remember the context back then the world was a bit different and there wasn't many females around doing that so that's why I guess it was a bit of a novity I didn't think much of it to be honest I was just focusing on entertaining the crowd could you paint us a picture of where you are right now yes so I am currently on the street called Paris Square which is right in the heart of Notting Hill Carnival footprint so I'm currently beside my P to lose which I've had to get here super early because I literally got a phone call to say we're 10 minutes away and I I luckily I live quite locally so I I rushed back down here so that's I've had to wrap them up because we unfortunately things get tagged over and um and and then you know we've got lots of deliveries so currently there's cars on the street but they'll all be gone it's quite sleepy at the moment so either people have gone to work or there's couple of people walking about there's lots of um fening that's up and everyone's just kind of getting ready there's parking restrictions in place it's a bit windy but the main thing is we we hope it remains dry your static sound system could you describe what it looks like yes so this year I will be joining up I'm with a sound system called Trojan 7 and they're going to be with myself linkam art so we will have two beautiful custom handbuilt authentic sound syst systems and for your listeners this is something that was originated kind of created by Jamaicans but it's gone on to have a global influence so with our sound uh Trojan 7 for example they have these beautiful Stacks which each one has been named after either a family member or someone significant and so there been nothing like it they're very unique they're going to sound incredible and then the linkem art sort of like two towers most I'm working with some amazing next Generations so on the street anyone that wants to see who's next you know in terms of those making their debut their first times ever being at carnival as DJs and also most importantly they're not just DJs these young people they're going to be with me we're starting early super early the older ones we're going from like 5: in the morning 7 o'clock in the morning of Carnival this is a bit that a lot of people don't really realize or it's a bit that perhaps I'm concerned that might be dying out with the culture because there's always this emphasis on you know the DJ as the star and that's quite alien to sound system culture we're a team family Collective effort and it's not like one person stand up the sound engineer is everything right you know we've literally they are the ones if the Music Stops well who's going to be looking after that everyone turns to the sound engineer not the DJ what's your view on the future of Notting Hill Carnival and how do you see the event evolving in the decades ahead one of the things I do with the sound system Futures these young people the first session is we teach them about the history of this event I myself as an adult I was coming here decades I actually did not know the true reason why this event was even happening because it's not something that sadly is taught in schools and it should be it should be significant because a man called Klo Crain who came from Antiga so was part of this group of people who were invited over to this country by the British government from the Caribbean to help to rebuild this country after second world war and some people will remember that around here I still remember in the 1980s there was still Rubble actually in some of the streets in London from the 1940s when the bombs had hit so things like the National Health Service all of this was built up by this group of people who at the time as said were considered to be British citizens as well and sadly he was um attacked um it was a race murder he lost his life and the community was devastated because there had been so much tensions between back then you know I guess people saying like black and white but it was literally that's what was happening people were being attacked in the streets based on the color of their skin people were not able to rent barely because of the color of their skin there were literally signs up in the windows that said no blacks no Irish no dogs that's that's what it was like back then so all the turbulence things like the race relations Acts was born out out of this and it took someone like Ronnie laslett the the woman that brought the community together and said we need to find a way forward and so I think once we know that history and and Ronnie lzard was the lady that said let's use culture aair costume Joy children adults people from all nationalities everyone coming together in unity and peacefully and love that was the vision it started off as a small fear and it's grown to what we see to one and a half to 2 million people so as long as everyone remembers that's why we're on the streets there were thousands that lined La Grove and the surrounding streets mourning queso's at the funeral it was so tragic that was in 1959 and so that's why we're on the streets of Notting Hill that's why it's here every single year and that's why the future is it will stay here it needs to stay here finally for this weekend any top tips for people to make the most of their Carnival visit I would just say to people just try to choose one element okay to decide if you're going to be following a float or if you're going to go to some people might be going to Panorama which is the steel pans or you're going to go to a sound system or one of the stages just choose one don't try and do it all that would be my advice particularly on the Monday gets busy but Sunday is um a lovely day so I think if you're new be to carival come on Sunday and why don't you perhaps leave a bit early you know we start from about 10 10:30ish the sound system start from 12:00 and you can have a great day you know it's children's day as well so and then you can maybe set off go start heading back home by about 4:00 that would be my advice you'll have a great time