50 things you didn't know about Notting Hill Carnival
Here are 50 facts you might not know about Europe's biggest street party
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Ever wondered how many people attend Notting Hill Carnival annually? Want to know which member of the royal family is a fan of Carnival? Well, prepare to be amazed with our top 50 of things you didn’t know about Notting Hill Carnival.
RECOMMENDED: Read the full Notting Hill Carnival guide
50 facts about Notting Hill Carnival
1
There are up to 2 million attendees at Carnival every year, plus 40,000 volunteers and 9,000 police.
2
That means that Carnival is as big as 11 Glastonbury festivals.
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3
It’s the second largest carnival in the world, just behind Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro…
4
…and the largest street festival in Europe.
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5
Carnival contributes around £93 million to London’s economy. Policing costs just £6 million.
6
Tourists only make up about 20 percent of the Carnival crowd.
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7
The carnival tradition has its distant roots in the eighteenth-century Trinidadian Canboulay processions, back in the dark days before Red Stripe.
8
There are five different aspects of carnival: masquerade, soundsystems, steel pan bands, calypso and and soca.
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9
There are around 40 static soundsystems, ten steel pan bands and 70 performing stages.
10
The costume troupes are known as ‘Mas bands’ – ‘Mas’ meaning masquerade.
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