Thousands die at Carnival.

A guest blog from A Chicken.

Tens of thousands of my people have been held in captivity in disgusting concentration camps only to be mercilessly killed and then thrown onto open fires alongside innocent sheep dressed as goats in order to meet the craving for salmonella poisoning of a million carnival goers who congregate annually to watch a few thousand of their own kind dressed up as exotic chickens getting pissed out of their minds before crawling home through the detritus of the massacre.

The air is thick with the smoke from the charnel fires, the area is bombarded with the boom boom boom of sound systems. Vegetarians passively ingest my people via the smoke and the vegans must be dying a million inner deaths.

And they call us the Jerk!

The great irony is that my people, when thrown onto the fires, come face to face with sweetcorn, rice n peas; all foods that they were denied during their cruel short lives in favour of food pellets made from animal by-products. Even the pigs grunt goes into chicken feed.

Mangrove steel band in All Saints Road.

Setting up the pans in preparation for the Mangrove steel band pre carnival rehearsal in all Saints Road W11 from 7.30 until midnight.

For those who find the carnival too much this is a great little street party.

Notting Hill carnival 2014. Boom boom boom an ting.

boom boom boom boom an ting.

the tits are not pecking at the feeder
the larks not ascending on the wing
the pigeons not cooing in the cedar
the jackdaws not stealing all the bling

the birds have left
the air's bereft
of everything avarian
in favour of
jerk chicken and
soul food rastafarian

the robins, once quite common
and the wrens once four a penny
and the sweet black bird all will not be heard
theres no room for the few 'mongst the many

the birds have left
the town's bereft
of everything on wing
to be replaced by
boom boom boom
boom boom boom boom
boom boom boom boom

an ting

Carnival 2013. Met Police PR team and the international formation pissing team.

Photograph: Steve Mepstead.


There are many photographs of the brighter side of Carnival on the inter web but this image is my favourite this year. It sums up the other side!

As does this photograph, from Getty Images :

For the residents of Notting Hill the lasting legacy of Carnival is the lingering stench of urine that pervades the neighbourhood for some time afterwards.

Carnival helicopter.

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of Notting Hill carnival is the constant buzz of the police helicopters overhead.

Carnival postcards. Carnival people.

                                Gaz Mayall & Ishmail

                                                    Gaz

All photographs courtesy of CHRISTOPHER SCHOLEY.

From the Evening Standard yesterday. Carnival summary.

MANGROVE STEEL BAND PRACTICE ON ALL SAINTS ROAD 25TH & 26TH AUGUST

UPDATE: Mangrove Steelband will now be having their final rehearsals in the Tabernacle Courtyard Tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow night. It will finish at 9.00 pm due to noise restrictions. The Tabernacle is on Powis Square W11.

The following is from Matthew at Mangrove. Please read this and give your support. It is important.

PREPARATIONS FOR CARNIVAL 2011

MANGROVE STEEL BAND PRACTICE ON ALL SAINTS ROAD 25TH & 26TH AUGUST

We are contacting businesses and residents of All Saints Road to seek their support for our

local steel band to be able to continue a tradition that has been taking place since 1980.

RBK&C have advised us that a Temporary Entertainment Licence will now be required for

these ‘performances’ to continue with much restricted hours. Mangrove would like to point

out that the band’s appearance on All Saints Road is not intended to be a performance, and

no action has ever been taken to advertise or attract an audience.

We would propose that the band sets up both evenings by 8pm and rehearse until 10pm on

Thursday 25th and midnight on Friday 26th. It has been our custom and practice to set up

in the street order to give our young members the experience of playing on the float and

in the open prior to taking part in the Panorama steel band competition in Kensal Road on

Saturday 27th August.

Our young people have been working hard practising every night in Tabernacle so they may

give their peak performance at Panorama and this is the goal they work towards throughout

the year.

Over the years we have gathered informal feedback from businesses and residents and the

general view expressed has been:

• These informal rehearsals attract large numbers of people to All Saints Road giving a

very positive and happy ‘vibe’ to the street. Restaurants and the off-licence have

reported a welcome increase in business on the evenings the band is on the road.

• There has never been any unpleasant incidents or criminal activity during these

rehearsal sessions

• Local families look forward to coming to the street to support their local band and to

meet their friends and neighbours in a safe and informal setting

• The people of Notting Hill show extreme patience each year as up to 2 million people

come onto our streets, and many local families enjoy this annual pre-carnival get

together prior to being invaded by the outside world

• SUPPORTING AND ENCOURAGING THIS POSITIVE MUSICAL ACTIVITY BY OUR

LOCAL YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD BE A WELCOME COUNTERPOINT TO RECENT

DISTURBANCES AND PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR YOUNG BLACK PEOPLE TO BE

SEEN IN A POSITIVE LIGHT.

WE ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT BY SIGNING OUR PETITION TO RBK&C.

MANGROVE STEEL BAND – MANAGER MATTHEW PHILLIP 020 7243 9999

EMAIL: matthew@mangrovesteelband.com WEBSITE: www.mangrovesteelband.com

MANGROVE STEEL BAND PRACTICE ON ALL SAINTS ROAD ON THURSDAY 25TH AND FRIDAY

26TH AUGUST 2011

We the undersigned would like to declare our support for Mangrove Steel Band to continue

their 30-year tradition of bringing the young band members to All Saints Road to practice on

their carnival float from 8-10pm on 25th and 8pm-midnight on 26th August. We welcome the

positive activity offered by Mangrove to local young people throughout the year.

This annual tradition brings a festive atmosphere to the street and will be a welcome

counterpoint to recent disturbances in the area which impacted on at least one business.

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