Government urged to save Notting Hill Carnival: ‘Insult to injury’
Dancers prepare to take part in 2024’s Notting Hill Carnival (Lucy North/PA) (PA Archive)
Notting Hill Carnival's future is uncertain, with its chairman, Ian Comfort, requesting urgent government funding from Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to save the event.
Campaigners, including human rights lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie, emphasize the carnival's "huge national and international significance" and its deep connection to the Windrush generation, urging the government to protect it.
The potential loss of the carnival, founded by Caribbean pioneers, is seen as adding "insult to injury" for victims of the Windrush scandal, especially as concerns coincide with Windrush Day.
Professor Patrick Vernon, a cultural historian, highlights the carnival as a vital cultural institution and the world's second-largest, representing London's diversity and Black British identity.
A government spokesman acknowledged the carnival as an "important community event" and stated that organisers should collaborate with local authorities and police to ensure safety.
