ABOUT
Now in it's 7th year, the Notting Hill Carnival Pioneers (NHCP) Community Festival has grown from very humble beginnings and a tiny budget in 2013 to become the most popular and well attended community event in Ladbroke Grove in the lead up to the main Carnival event.
Headed up by the charismatic Founder and Creative Director Leslie 'Teacher' Palmer MBE, this event has grown exponentially over the last six years. The NHCP Community Festival is the most anticipated local festival event in Notting Hill with an estimated attendance of over 2000 people and a line-up featuring the cream of the Carnival Steelbands, the UK Reggae scene and supporting artists.
It was Les who pioneered the template for the modern Notting Hill Carnival and helped transform a local community carnival into an internationally recognised event attended by millions. In 1973 with the support of Anthony Perry (the first Director of Westway Trust, formerly the North Kensington Amenity Trust) Les made the case for the wider participation of the other Caribbean Islanders and the inclusion of the live music bands, food stalls, traditional costumes, masquerade and Reggae sound systems particularly loved by the youth of the day. The rest, as they say, is history.
Aimed primarily at music lovers, local residents and visitors the festival celebrates the lives of the main Windrush era “movers and shakers” from the Caribbean and wider community that fought for the civil and human rights of the community’s residents and features the very best in Reggae, Carnival music and international artists typified by the special guest appearance of Paul Weller in 2016 and Janet Kay, the UK's first black female number 1 artiste.
In 2017 Leslie Palmer was honoured in the New Year’s Honours list for his outstanding contribution to the Carnival community including this annual festival which publicly acknowledges and celebrates the role of local Carnival Pioneers in helping to establish the Notting Hill Carnival.
In a time of increased regeneration where much that makes Portobello Road and Ladbroke Grove unique is under threat of being eroded, this event provides a continuity in the narrative that is true Portobello, not only home the Notting Hill Carnival, but where other creative geniuses including Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, the Clash, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye and many others have left their mark.
JOIN THE FAMILY-FRIENDLY FUN ON SUNDAY 11 AUGUST 2019
FROM 12-9PM. SAVE THE DATE!
TEAM
Leslie Palmer MBE
FESTIVAL FOUNDER & DIRECTOR
Contact details:
07906 541 512
Malcom Perkins
EVENT MANAGER
Contact details:
07931 888 408
David Kaloo
PRESS OFFICER
Contact details:
0773 886 435
Billy Longdon
EVENT MANAGER
Contact details:
07986 996 361
Debra Ann Eden
PROJECT MANAGER
Contact details:
07506875148
Stefan Lumsden
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Contact details:
07961 226 082
