Notting Hill Carnival: Celebration cancelled for the second year running
The organisers of Notting Hill Carnival have announced that this year’s event will not take place on the streets “due to the ongoing uncertainty and risk Covid-19 poses.”
Instead, the late August bank holiday event will go ahead online as it did last year.
The move comes a few days after the government delayed the so-called “Freedom Day”, when all Covid restrictions are eased, by four weeks from June 21 to July 19.
The organisers said it had been “an incredibly difficult decision to make”, but cited the risk of eventual cancellation and the lack of time for participants to prepare as the main reasons for their conclusion.
“Everyone involved in the event desperately wants a return to the road where Carnival belongs but safety has to come first and with the latest cautious announcement on the government’s roadmap, this is the only way to ensure that,” the Notting Hill Carnival board said in a statement.
Notting Hill carnival is Europe’s biggest street party, normally attracting crowds of around 2m people. The first version of the west London party was held in 1966.
Last year, the first ever digital carnival was streamed over four channels on August 29 and 30.
The organisers said more details on this year’s virtual event will be announced soon.