The beginnings of Notting Hill Carnival

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2022

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On 30 January 1959, the late Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones held a Caribbean party in St Pancras Town Hall in London, planting the seeds for the famous carnival. She wanted to bring Caribbeans across the capital together for dancing, singing and steel bands. Rachel Naylor hears from her best friend, Corinne Skinner-Carter. (Photo: A woman having a good time at Claudia Jones' Caribbean carnival, at St Pancras Town Hall in London, 1959. Credit: Daily Mirror via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:22.3	Hello and thank you for downloading this episode of The Witness History Podcast
0:31.1	from the BBC World Service.
0:33.1	Today I'm going to take you back to the beginnings of Notting Hill Carnival,
0:37.4	a celebration of Caribbean culture in London and the second largest carnival in the world.
0:42.4	Corinne Skinnecarta was a friend of one of the founders, The Late Claudia Jones.
0:53.7	It's the 30th of January 1959 and Caribbean's across London are making their way to
0:59.2	St. Pancras Town Hall for the city's first ever Caribbean carnival.
1:03.8	They're dressed for the occasion, wearing big flowery hats,
1:07.8	loud, colourful shirts and their dancing shoes.
1:11.8	The event has been organised by journalist and activist Claudia Jones.
1:15.6	He wanted to recreate a carnival like the one she enjoyed back home in Trinidad.
1:20.4	There was only one problem.
1:24.4	She did it at exactly the time that we were having it in Trinidad.
1:30.7	So which means it was called here and when people got off the train,
	...

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