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Club Tip CMU Approved
Approved: Notting Hill Carnival 2012 (Vigsy’s Tips)
By Paul Vig | Published on Friday 24 August 2012
The 48th incarnation of this massive West London street party takes place this Sunday and bank holiday Monday. Carnival’s music policy embraces and fuses many genres. There is, of course, the traditional calypso, soca and reggae from the Caribbean, and the Steel bands are excellent, along with the costumery – the attention to detail and planning is astounding. The taste of the Caribbean is there too – roti and curried goat or saltfish and ackee with rice and peas, to soak up the rum and Guinness punch.
But Carnival goes further than that, into jungle, ragga, hip hop, house and broken beat, all of which can be found at the numerous soundsystems dotted around Notting Hill over the weekend. They’re certainly worth hunting down, alongside seeing the precession of floats. Soundsystems particularly worth checking out are CMC/Matrix and 4Play playing drum n bass and garage, Aba Shanti-I on a reggae tip, the Latin Rave Steet Jam System, RapAttack and Rampage, plus stalwarts Sancho Panza, Mr Norman Jay’s returning Good Times bus, and Shy FX, who is taking control of Sir Lloyds system on Monday.
Sunday is traditionally kids day, and it gets a bit more lively on the Monday all round Notting Hill. Get a map and plan where you’ll be heading. It can be mobbed at times, so keep an eye out for one another. Time Out still does a little pull out guide, which is handy for knowing the location of the soundsystems or float route and there is now also a carnival smartphone app from the official website.
This weekend also sees some superb post carnival parties and events taking place. On Sunday there is more choice. If you want to stay in West London, in Kensal Green Ninja Tune is taking over The Paradise Green with Zed Bias and Coldcut in effect and The Sancho Panza crew head to The Regent. Across town in Shoreditch, Wookie can be spotted in the Horse And Groom, while Stuart Patterson and Phil Asher go wild at East Village. Finally, if you’re heading south, David Rodigan goes for it at Electric Brixton (formerly The Fridge) with Kenny Ken and Toddla T.
What a great line up for a great London tradition – let’s hope the sun shines on West London, it just makes it so much more enjoyable. Long live Carnival!
