Thousands have taken to the streets of west London for this year’s Notting Hill Carnival.
Sunny skies and temperatures up to 26C (79F) were out for the third and final day of Carnival, Europe’s biggest street party, which celebrated its 57th year.
More than a million people were expected to attend this year’s event, with around 7,000 police officers on duty across the capital on Sunday and Monday.
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Carnival traces its roots to the hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Caribbean – the Windrush generation – who came to the UK between 1948 and 1971 to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.
Groups performing included Bajan Raw Licquer, Mahogany, Chocolate Nation, Mas Africa, Vincy Alliance and United Kreyol, reflecting traditions from Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominica and Haiti.
Brazilian performers from Paraiso Samba School, Batala and Dende Nation added to the line-up, alongside long-established UK community bands.
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Carnival has been facing financial challenges, with chair Ian Comfort telling The Guardian that the event came close to not happening this year.
Just weeks before the event, nearly £1m in funding was granted to organisers by the London mayor’s office and two local councils.
Kim Taylor-Smith, deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said the extra funding his authority provided would apply “for this year only”. He called on the government to support the event financially.
‘Far fewer’ violent incidents, police say
In the run-up to the event, the Metropolitan Police arrested more than 100 people who had planned to go, and seized dozens of knives and firearms.
On Sunday, the force said there had been 140 arrests, including 105 at the event itself while 35 took place “on the approaches to carnival as a result of proactive policing interventions”.
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In an update after 8pm on Monday, the Met Police said there had been a total of 423 arrests over the two main days of Notting Hill Carnival.
Last year, there were 334 arrests in total.
The force added that officers “have seen far fewer incidents of serious violence than in recent years”, noting two stabbing incidents.
One incident was reported in Powis Terrace, and the other was in Oxford Gardens. Neither incident resulted in life-threatening injuries.
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Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward, policing commander for Notting Hill Carnival, said in statement that the force had “proactively targeted those who have attempted to come to Carnival to cause harm to others”.
“We have used live facial recognition, knife arches and our stop and search powers to identify and arrest more than 400 suspects,” he added.
“These arrests have prevented some of the serious violence we have seen at previous Carnivals.
“We thank the organisers and others who spoke out in the days and weeks ahead of the event to emphasise what Carnival stands for, to reject violence and to urge anyone planning to come for conflict or confrontation to stay at home.
“All of this joint effort has helped to make this this year’s Carnival a safer event for all.”
