Following the cancellation of this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, event organisers promised an alternative to the traditional festivities and keeping to their word, they have now announced Notting Hill Carnival: Access All Areas.
Taking place on the August Bank Holiday (29th August – 31st August), Notting Hill Carnival: Access All Areas will be a digital event which will allow a global audience to stream for free online and will include steel bands, sound systems, performances, interviews and much more.
The event will be streamed over four separate channels starting from 6pm to midnight on 29th August, with the celebrations continuing between 9am and 11pm on the 30th and 31st August.
Notting Hill Carnival will also be partnering up with Spotify for this year’s event, with the streaming platform launching a microsite in August to highlight the significance of the carnival. In addition to this, Spotify will feature brand-new playlists curated by sound systems and DJs of Notting Hill Carnival, as well as podcasts delving into the history of the event.
Speaking on this year’s online edition, Matthew Phillip – Executive Director of Notting Hill Carnival – said: “This year we faced the ultimate challenge of being unable to gather on the streets to celebrate our Carnival. But, now, more than ever, it’s important to keep the spirit of Notting Hill Carnival alive, giving an outlet to the thousands of people that spend all year creating incredible costumes and music for Europe’s largest event.
“Carnival is such an important part of people’s lives and key celebration of the multiculturalism of the UK, and we have a responsibility to our community and pioneers to honour that. We also have a responsibility to protect the black community and our elders by respecting social distancing and taking Carnival away from the streets for this year. So this is a fantastic solution for 2020.
“We may not be able to celebrate together on the streets as usual, but we can all come together to celebrate one of the UK’s great cultural events online.”
News of Access All Areas comes after this year’s traditional Notting Hill Carnival was cancelled back in May due to the coronavirus pandemic – the first time the event has been dropped in its 54-year history.
Check out some behind the scenes photos of Notting Hill Carnival below and for more information on the event, click here.
