The year 2004 marks the 40th anniversary of the Notting HillCarnival. The event attracts over a million people in a bank holidayweek-end in August and provides London with its largestEuropean street festival. It attracts a multi-racial and multi-cultural audience which reflects the full diversity of the UK’scapital city.

The History of CarnivalThe Notting Hill Carnival began initially from the energies of Blackimmigrants from the Caribbean who had dreams of creating afestival to bring together the people of Notting Hill. In 1964 whenit all started, people were facing racism, a lack of economicopportunities and poor housing.

Carnival’s origins come from the slavery era when slaves wereforbidden to play musical instruments and wear costumes exceptfor during the period of ‘Carnival’. When slavery was abolished, theslaves took to the streets in song and dance. This was an avenuefor freedom of expression and has evolved into what is now knownas Carnival today.

Carnival TodayThere are several components making up the Notting HillCarnival, delivering economic benefit to thousands and pleasureto many more.

• A key component are the “Mas Bands” which are mobile amplified music bands accompanied by hundreds of “masqueraders” who pay for their costumes and to participate with or ‘follow’ the band.

• “Steel Bands” are live percussive music units on mobile floats playing the unique steel pans derived from Trinidad’s ultural heritage.

• There are about 250 trading sites licensed to sell food and drink, and these are mainly Caribbean and Asian influenced.

• There are the companies who make the fantastic and beautiful costumes which are artistic showpieces in their own right.

• Providing the musical backdrop for this colourful event are ‘calypsonians’ which use political, social and satirical commentary set to music, and soca, a fusion of soul andcalypso which originated in Trinidad.

Which businesses benefit from Notting Hill Carnival?Apart from the obvious costume producers, fabric sellers,musicians, event organisers, and sound systems, there are manymore businesses that work behind the scenes or play a hand inmaking this Europe’s largest street festival. Carnival is more thanan event over a bank holiday week-end in London. Carnival is aglobal and year round industry which supports thousands of jobs– primarily in the BME communities in the UK. Cleaningcontractors, security companies, caterers, sign design specialists,music producers, clothing designers, merchandisers, and manymore make Carnival what it is and derive some economic benefitfrom the event.Businesses operating in the retail and accommodation sectors inand around the Notting Hill area also benefit from an upsurge insales before and after the Carnival weekend. Visitor spend overthe weekend is estimated at £45 million but the trickle down effectmakes the actual economic impact of the Carnival so much more.A recent London Development Agency (LDA) report indicates thatthe Carnival contributes up to £93 million each year to the Londoneconomy and supports the equivalent of 3,000 full time jobs. Italso attracts an estimated 90,000 tourists from abroad.

Creating a more sustainable future for CarnivalbusinessesThe LDA’s recommendations to improve and ensure thesustainability of Carnival while making its economic impact reachits maximum potential include:

• Developing a robust public awareness, PR, media, communication and advocacy programme locally, nationally and overseas.

• Carrying out a fundraising strategy to broker both public andprivate sector support for the Carnival.

• Delivering a branding, marketing and merchandising strategy aimed at improving the position of London’s productoffering.

• Developing a programming strategy which would allow for more inclusion in an annual calendar of carnival events and other activities.

• Gaining a better understanding of the skills and business challenges faced by small businesses involved in Carnival

• Incorporating education on Carnival into school activities andother relevant educational outlets in the media, arts, or sports.

• Establishing a Carnival visitor centre• Including Carnival into further research studies on tourism

and creative industries.

The Industry OfCarnival

F A C T S H E E T

Carnival for the Future Business Link for London’s Knowledge Centre on Black andMinority Ethnic Businesses is committed to helping businesses inthis sector succeed. Carnival related businesses need support tomove them from projects to a more profitable and self-sustainingstatus. In this regard, the Knowledge Centre recommends thepursuit of the following two initiatives as a starting point toachievement of this goal:

1. “Carnival in the Park”

Carnival in the Park is an event which will showcase the variousindustries of Carnival, highlight their commercial value andcontribute to the further development of participating businesses.It is proposed that the event will take place on the weekend beforethe Bank Holiday weekend and will consist of stage showsfeaturing musicians, artists, and parades of costumes and fashiondesigners. A “Global Village” will also house vendors selling food,music, clothing and arts and crafts from the various cultures thattraditionally take part in street festivals and Carnivals - such as thepeople of the Caribbean, South America, Asia, Africa and theChinese.

The “Global Village” will also facilitate two-way trade betweenlocal and overseas companies, and ‘zoning’ the village will help toshowcase the various cultures participating in Carnival. In additionto the obvious benefits to BME businesses over the week-enditself, the event will provide a timely boost to the Carnival’sdevelopment. Specifically it will:

• allow greater and direct interaction between local UK companies and individuals and those overseas.

• open the Carnival up to a wider audience - the mainstream and other segments such as young families and elderly people who may be dissuaded from participating because of the confines of a street parade.

• provide greater funding opportunities for the London Notting Hill Carnival Limited and access to more sponsorship from a wider audience – for example corporates and multi-nationals.

• allow for more direct benefit to the BME companies associated with the Carnival industry and remain in keeping with the cultural heritage of the Carnival.

• It will complement the Bank Holiday Notting Hill Carnival andmake the event into a larger tourist attraction.

2. “Centre for Carnival Arts and Industries”

At present there is no physical home in London for the businessesinvolved in Carnival. This is constraining the further developmentof these industries directly and indirectly related to the creativearts sector. As such, a Carnival Arts and Industries Centre isproposed.

• A Carnival centre would provide a base which could accommodate small and medium sized businesses from “incubation” through to longer term growth stages. It would facilitate interaction between businesses and enable them tobenefit from clusters, by giving them economies of scale andmore engagement with related businesses along theirsupply chains.

• An additional benefit would be the human resource training and opportunities for development which can arise from suchcommercial hubs. Carnival provides an excellent training ground for those who wish to apply their acquired skill set toother commercial ventures such as fashion design or theatrical costume design.

• The Centre could accommodate the display of the large Carnival costumes both for fashion shows on catwalks and inperhaps a museum showcase format in order to act as a permanent visitor attraction for both locals and tourists. Again, this would promote Carnival within new segments of the market to those who may not want to participate in a street parade.

• The venue could also act as a hub for entertainment – sponsored Carnival parties or ‘fêtes’ in the lead-up to the Notting Hill Carnival - providing a further stream of income toMas bands, as well as businesses such as sound systems, catering, lighting and event management companies. This, all at the same time, creating loyalty among potential band ‘followers’, who would familiarise themselves with the new Carnival music for the year and ‘get into the spirit’ of Carnival.

• Opportunities exist for the location of such a Centre in the priority regeneration areas of the Thames Gateway of London. With such a Carnival Centre, London and the UK would be well positioned to exploit its potential role as beingthe focus for this global industry which is growing in size andeconomic contribution worldwide.

To download more KCBMEB FactSheets, visit

www.knowledgecentres.com/bme

For more details on the research report published by the London Development Agency - “The Economic Impact of the Notting HillCarnival”, please call 020 7680 2000.

For more information about “Carnival in the Park” or the “Centre for Carnival Arts and Industries”, please contact Vernon Barrett,Head of the BME Knowledge Centre at vbarrett@bl4london.com