IT’S CARNIVAL TIME AGAIN!

Carnival and me!

It’s that time of year again when the streets of London’s Notting Hill are getting ready to vibrate with the sounds of Carnival, or as I grew up knowing it back in Barbados, Crop Over Festival.

Pappy’s Angels.

Blue Macaw (Socaholic Frontline).

Funatikals & Funtaikids

The bands are tuning their instruments, the dancers are polishing their shoes and the colourful costumes have their finishing touches put on, to get ready for the extravagant parade through the streets of London this summer.

Carnival 2013 Funatik Mas.

The anticipation of this celebration awakens a nostalgic feeling in me taking me back to my native Barbados.

Lil’ Rick aka Hypa Dawg from Barbados

Where the build-up of Kadooment Day starts at the end of May and ends in a finale on the first Monday in August.

Rupee & Fans.

Linked to the sugar cane harvest, its origins can be traced back to the 1780’s, a time when Barbados was the world’s largest producer of sugar. At the end of the sugar season, there was always a huge celebration to mark the culmination of another successful sugar cane harvest – the Crop Over celebration.

Jolly Roger Sunset.

As the sugar industry in Barbados declined, so too did the Crop Over Festival and in the 1940’s the festival was terminated completely. However, the festival was revived in 1974 and other elements of Barbadian culture were infused to create the extravaganza as we know it today. I was only a boy of 11 when these celebrations first started in the 70’s. As I grew up, I found myself getting involved in the merriment of partying for months by Dee Jaying around the island, and providing the sizzling, spirited sounds we Caribbean people so love and cherish. Bet you never knew I was a DJ huh 😉

Ebony Steel Band performs at Panorama.

Now it is an event that attracts thousands of people from across the globe to celebrate this festival alongside Caribbean Communities in such places as Canada, England and the USA.

Martin Jay Big Pappy Soca Prince.

Bunji Garlin on the Funatik Mas truck 2013.

Fay Ann Lyons on the Funatik Mas truck 2013.

Notting Hill 2013 Barbados Flag.

I am honoured to partake in the preparations for the London Carnival. I have been asked again by Martin Jay to photograph their band in preparation for the launch of Funatik Mas Band on May 5th 2014. The beautiful costumes were shot by Peter Branch at Powerhouse Studios, Rayners Lane.

Funatik Mas Spreading Wings.

This year’s Notting Hill Carnival will be taking place August 24th and August 25th. So come out for the bank holiday week-end and bring all the family, young and old to view the beautifully costumed Masqueraders from along the route.

Birds Of Paradise male.

Food and drinks are sold roadside, so you can enjoy the spectacle as massive music floats pass by, with Deejays and Live Bands to entertain the huge crowds with Caribbean tunes that make you feel like summer time has truly arrived. Get your costume here and play mas with Funatik this year. Join me, you know you want to!

Funatikids.

Blue Macaw (Socaholic Frontline).

Lovebirds Male.

Blue Macaw (Socaholic).

This post was Co-written by Nelia Freitas.