Packed with steel bands, Calypso music, tempting food stalls, and masquerade parades Notting Hill Carnival is the biggest street festival in Europe.Already well known for its weekly fashionable Portobello Road market the three and a half mile stretch is transformed from English kitsch to the colourful Caribbean for the August Bank Holiday weekend. There seems no time more appropriate than after the electric, Olympic atmosphere to celebrate a real sense of community as people from all ethnicities and ages come together to celebrate the vibrant roots of Caribbean culture.With extra investment in the sound system the carnival's 48th year has been louder and brighter than ever. A sea of colour in every direction is added to by an explosion of paint that coats the skin of many – a traditional way of warding off the negativity of demons.
