The effervescent Carnival: Performance, context, and mediation at Notting-Hill

The Notting Hill Carnival is now Europe's largest street festival, celebrating the music and popular arts of a variety of cultures. Not so long ago, the event-which sometimes culminated in violence between the police and carnival goers-was widely perceived as both threatening and marginal. But more recently the size, success, and high media profile of the carnival have given it a 'responsible' image-and won sponsorship from a variety of commercial concerns. In this article, Gavin Carver explores these developments in the mediation and context of the carnival, transforming a socio/cultural event into mere decorative spectacle.