Once every August Bank Holiday, a storm of steel bands and scarcely dressed Samba dancers take over Notting Hill in the form of “Carnival”, Europe’s biggest street festival. But what began simply as a 2 day celebration of Caribbean culture has now, with the invasion of high profile chains, evolved into much more.
If you have been to Notting Hill Carnival at all in the 50 years since it first started, three things will stick with you far long after you leave. 1. The throbbing of your ear drums from the offbeat bass of reggae songs blasting from stereo systems that existed long before you were even born. 2. A hangover that no amount of Paracetamol or bizarre next morning homemade concoctions will ever cure. 3. A longing for the best food you probably ever will or have tasted in your short, but now meaningful, existence.
When Notting Hill Carnival — or just ‘Carnival’ to it’s locals — first began in 1964, it was started by the West Indian community as an attempt to ease the racial tension that existed amongst their diverse London area. The festival became a celebration of all things Caribbean and with over 250 food trading sites appearing yearly to sell traditional West Indian food — rice, beans, plantain and dumplings, jerk chicken, curry goat and patties — the annual street party brought to London a little taste of the Islands.
“I moved to this country from Jamaica in the 60’s so when Carnival started it was like a dream,” says Brian Mills of the Metronomes Steel Orchestra, a regular performer at the event. “To me, it was like a little piece of home. You could hear the old reggae sound systems for miles, as soon as you stepped out of the station. They’d have these big speakers stacked right up on each other so you’d hear the vibrations all the way through the floor — and the food! There was food everywhere you looked.”
Nowadays, however, most notable among the endless rows of street food available at the carnival is that of Keith Valentine Graham Bilal Musa's — or just Levi Roots to public majority. Best known for his famous Reggae Reggae Sauce which soared to popularity after his appearance on Dragon’s Den, Levi Roots has become something of a mogul to his small home community in South London with Reggae Reggae as his empire.
Levi Roots himself first started out by running a Jerk chicken stall at Carnival. Now, however, stocked by high profile chains such as Sainsbury’s and Pizza Express, you can buy Reggae Reggae cook books, soft drinks, pasties, ready meals, sandwiches, frozen foods, pizzas, wraps and cakes. Take a trip to Carnival today and you will no doubt see that the Reggae Reggae stall — painted the distinctive yellow, black and green of the Jamaican flag — has become the biggest of all.
But what does this mean for the all the other smaller food traders that flock to the streets in search of business? “Everybody goes to Levi Roots’ because everybody knows Levi Roots” carnival catering veteran Jean White explains. “He’s selling the same thing as everyone else but for a higher price, yet people don’t care because it’s the name that they’re paying for. Why would they want Jean White’s sauce when they don’t know who Jean White is? Even if Jean White’s sauce might be much better!”
Last year’s Carnival saw the Reggae Reggae stall selling out completely before the day had even ended. Meanwhile, come midnight, smaller stalls were reduced to having to desperately dispose of unsold food for half the price. “I think that ultimately the community is proud to see people like Levi Roots doing well” Jean White goes on, “he started as one of us and he found success. But you have to ask, if the big companies are the only ones making money from it anymore, who is it that Carnival even’s for?”
Nevin Holness
