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The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which takes place in Notting Hill, West London, England – commencing on a Saturday and ending on the night of the August Bank Holiday Monday. In 2007, it takes place from 25th to 27th August.
The Notting Hill Carnival has attracted up to 1.5 million people in some years, placing it amongst the largest street festivals in the world and probably the largest in Europe.
The format for the Carnival takes the following pattern:
Saturday – the “Panorama” takes place, a competition between steel bands mainly from the London area, but increasingly from around the UK.
Sunday – Children’s Day, with a shortened Carnival route, but with similar themes and activities as the main event adapted for children and young people.
Monday – the Main Carnival which covers a route of about 3 miles along the Great Western Road, Chepstow Road, Westbourne Grove and Ladbroke Grove.
The parade consists of lorries, trucks and floats with steel bands (often called steel pan bands or pan bands in the US) or mobile sound systems, some with huge loudspeakers. They are accompanied by costumed masqueraders and dancers, some in very exotic attire.
Along the route there are approximately 40 static sound systems and stages playing a wide range of music at high volume. The traditional Calypso, Soca, Ska and Reggae can be found alongside more modern rhythms and other music styles.
Although there have been occasional problems over the years, more recently any trouble has been localised and little more than one could expect when up to 500,000 congregate in a small area for a whole day celebrating and (naturally at party time) drinking alcohol.
The Notting Hill Carnival is seen not only as a dynamic celebration of multi-culturalism in London, but also a socially inclusive gathering, albeit dominated by Afro–Caribbean influences.
Many of the floats and dancers take their inspiration from the Brazilian Carnivals, especially Rio de Janeiro.
In 2006 the Carnival organisers estimated that 500,000 people attended on both the Sunday and Monday. Of course, with so many people attending for much of the day and staying on into the evening, there are substantial catering requirements. For many it is their first introduction to foods from a variety of cultures, especially Caribbean cooking.
The popularity of the Notting Hill Carnival has led to criticism and controversy, with the authorities wanting to move it from the narrow streets of what is essentially a small residential area to Hyde Park, where safety would be improved, policing made easier and simpler management and control systems could be implemented.
Torrevieja is one of the most important summer holiday spots in the province of Alicante, about 50 kilometres from the city of Alicante and making up what is known as the Costa Blanca in Spain. Torrevieja and the town of Pilar de la Horadada are in the southern tip, the last towns before you head into the province of Murcia.
When making holiday plans, if you are to arrive there by plane, the closest airport would be the one in Alicante called the Altet. It has great flight combinations with the rest of Europe, especially when flying in from England.
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Thousands of species of fish and other sea life abound in the Great Barrier Reef that spreads across the northern coast of Australia. The reef, composed of sea creatures from multi-colored fish to the living coral is the habitation of underwater animals and plants. No wonder scuba divers and snorkelers go over the top to marvel at this amazing environment. In the midst of this breathtaking beauty, however, the fiercely poisonous blue ringed octopus hides in the clear waters of the reef.
This octopus is tiny in size and has special glands
producing two types of poison that is secreted into its
saliva. On scenting danger, this dark yellow creature turns
into
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The New Year's parade in Hong Kong is an event not to be missed! The city is dressed up with bright decorations and colorful lights for its biggest celebration of the year, and thousands pour into Hong Kong to take part in the festivities.
Winding along Hong Kong's picturesque waterfront, the New Year's parade is filled with colorful, lavishly decorated floats. Representatives from Hong Kong and countries all over the world sing, dance and play music. The songs of marching bands fill the air along the parade's route as performers in bright costumes prance along the streets.
The forthcoming year
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The annual Edinburgh Festivals are regarded world wide as some of the best Europe has to offer in terms of film, literature and music. Every year it is estimated that the population of Edinburgh doubles as the city becomes one of the most vibrant places to be in all of Europe. However, despite this worldwide recognition, only a third of the visitors are locals which means many Britons are failing to take advantage of this fantastic short break opportunity available to them right on their doorstep.
Starting in 1947, the Edinburgh Festival has grown into the largest festival in the
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As one of Europe's leading cultural cities Berlin offers many museums, historic sites and other places for a memorable visit. Many landmarks remind us of the long history of Berlin, the remains of the destruction during World War II and its history when it was divided between East and West.
Even though Berlin is a large metropolis, orientating yourself in Berlin isn't hard at all. There are three prominent landmarks: the Church of Remembrance (the Gedächtniskirche), located in the West on the Kurfürstendamm, the Brandenburger Tor in the city district of Mitte, and the Fernsehturm (TV-tower) at Alexanderplatz in the
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