In Conversation: Allyson Williams MBE - Notting Hill Carnival 60

She built costumes, ran mas bands and shaped Carnival from the inside for decades. An intimate evening with a Carnival legend.

Allyson Williams arrived in England from Trinidad in 1969 to train as a midwife. In 1974 she met Vernon Williams – one of the founding members of Notting Hill Carnival – and her life changed.

Together they founded Genesis mas band in 1980. That first year they made more than 400 costumes. Allyson worked her hospital shifts then came home and sewed through the night. Vernon designed historical themes – the Khans, the Pharaohs, Aztec civilisations – and Allyson brought them to life in fabric, sequins and feathers.

When Vernon died in 2002, Allyson and her children Symone and Kevin kept Genesis going. She became the mas arena’s representative on the Carnival board and served as Interim Chair in 2008. She has given 38 years of continuous service to Carnival arts and was featured in British Vogue. Her autobiography Tell Me Something I Don’t Know tells the full story.

This is an intimate In Conversation evening in the Listening Lounge – a small space for no more than 20 people. Allyson shares her story in her own words.