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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.
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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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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If you’re planning on taking a trip to Mexico, there are literally thousands of things you can do there. One of the most interesting and fulfilling, however, is to go check out some of the numerous cultural sites that are open to the public.
One interesting and lesser known cultural site to check out is the caves in Baja that contain ancient cave paintings from indigenous peoples in the area. They’re a couple of hours drive from the U.S., so you can go there even if you aren’t planning a full-fledged trip. It’s a nice weekend trip for people from
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In the mid-1950s the shops in Regent Street, London, decided to entice more customers to the area (and into the shops) by having a lavish display of Christmas lights. They were motivated by an article in the Daily Telegraph in late 1954 which stated that London was "drab" despite it being Christmas time.
The first Christmas Lights were little more than lanterns on the fronts of the buildings, but with the passage of time (aided by technology) the lights have become more and more extensive, elaborate and sophisticated.
Despite the success of the lights in attracting people to the area, in 1971,
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Although Carnival has almost universal appeal wherever the Roman Catholic Church has a substantial presence, the level and extent of celebration varies enormously, ranging from hugely popular, highly developed, commercially supported, tourist-inspired events down to small celebrations within a locality which may only involve a few small villages or a small town.
Some of these events are Carnival in its traditional sense, but many have elements of local folklore integrated. The event in Sydney is a Gay & Lesbian Carnival. Some are promoted as Mardi Gras, although not necessarily limiting themselves to the day before Ash Wednesday. Most start two weeks
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