People from all around the world gathered to celebrate African Caribbean culture at this year’s Notting Hill and Leeds West Indian Carnivals.

As they (respectively) wound their way through the streets in the capital and Chapletown, the thumping rhythms which poured out of the mass parades and lines of highly strung-up Sound Systems – in both cities - provided the perfect back drop, and ideal catalyst, for the hundreds of thousands who turned up to party.

Famous for its incredibly designed colourful costumes that brought the wow factor to both city – they wouldn’t have been the same without its signature extravagance of vibrantly clad revellers parading to the sounds of Steel Pan, Soca and Reggae music. People really let loose and threw their hands in the air to entertain the crowds – and themselves!

This year’s edition of both carnivals marked equally famous parade's presence in Britain’s annual calendar of events, as well as commemorating the 75th anniversary of since the first of the Windrush Generation arrived in the UK. It was the second time that the Leeds West Indian Carnival was held since the Covid pandemic restrictions were lifted.

In another poignant tribute, in London Sound Systems fell silent for 72 seconds on both Sunday and Monday to remember the victims of Grenfell, the tower which can be seen from various parts of the route. Chief executive of the Windrush Generation Association, Deborah Klass, said: "We've been involved in getting our elders on to our specially adapted bus so that they can be properly celebrated.

“We looked got someone from every island in the Caribbean to be represented.” She went on to tell how the float was dedicated to those who disembarked the HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury in 1948 and celebrating the diamond anniversary of their arrival.

She went on: "It's the legacy and the memories that the Windrush generation have brought to Britain. Everyone here is just so proud of their origins and their descent.” And proud everyone present certainly were.

Carnival was back – bigger and better than ever before!