Events by this organizer

Join us for an in-depth 90-minute journey through Notting Hill’s Caribbean history.

90-Minute Guided Walk Through the Historic Heart of Caribbean London

Experience the incredible true stories that created Europe’s biggest street festival! This comprehensive walking tour visits all the essential sites where Caribbean history was made in Notting Hill, including the powerful story of Kelso Cochrane.

You’ll Learn About:

The Windrush generation’s arrival and early struggles
How violent racism was met with community organising
Kelso Cochrane’s tragic murder
The Mangrove Nine: Britain’s landmark civil rights case
How tragedy became triumph through music, culture and celebration

Perfect For:

Those wanting the complete Caribbean Notting Hill story
Anyone curious about the deeper history behind Carnival
People who want to understand how struggle, loss and resistance shaped a community
Visitors who want more time to absorb the history at each location

The hidden Caribbean history behind Notting Hill’s pastel houses. Shebeens, resistance and the Mangrove Nine. A walking tour like no other.

Behind the pastel houses and the Hugh Grant film, there is a Notting Hill that most people never hear about.

This walk takes you through the streets where Caribbean families built an entire community from scratch – because nobody else would let them in. We visit the sites of clubs, cafés, pubs, restaurants and shebeens that no longer exist, but whose stories shaped this neighbourhood.

You will hear about illegal gambling dens in basement rooms, the only pub in the neighbourhood that would serve a Black customer, a restaurant whose story changed British civil rights history, a James Bond actor with a secret second life, and a political scandal that connected these streets to the fall of a government.

We start outside Notting Hill Community Church, Kensington Park Road, and end at The Tabernacle on Powis Square. 75 minutes. The Notting Hill they do not tell you about.

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.

What does Caribbean identity mean in Britain today? Food, culture, belonging – an honest conversation with three fresh voices.

What does it mean to be Caribbean in Britain in 2026? Is the culture thriving or disappearing? What does Caribbean identity look like for a generation who have never lived in the Caribbean?

Comedian, Eugene Dusauzay, Zara Lopes from French creole pop-up restaurant, Goutebon, and Symone Williams, the daughter of Notting Hill Carnival pioneers, bring three different perspectives to an honest conversation about food, identity, belonging and what gets passed down.

The hidden Caribbean history behind Notting Hill’s pastel houses. Shebeens, resistance and the Mangrove Nine. A walking tour like no other.

Behind the pastel houses and the Hugh Grant film, there is a Notting Hill that most people never hear about.

This walk takes you through the streets where Caribbean families built an entire community from scratch – because nobody else would let them in. We visit the sites of clubs, cafés, pubs, restaurants and shebeens that no longer exist, but whose stories shaped this neighbourhood.

You will hear about illegal gambling dens in basement rooms, the only pub in the neighbourhood that would serve a Black customer, a restaurant whose story changed British civil rights history, a James Bond actor with a secret second life, and a political scandal that connected these streets to the fall of a government.

We start outside Notting Hill Community Church, Kensington Park Road, and end at The Tabernacle on Powis Square. 75 minutes. The Notting Hill they do not tell you about.

The hidden Caribbean history behind Notting Hill’s pastel houses. Shebeens, resistance and the Mangrove Nine. A walking tour like no other.

Behind the pastel houses and the Hugh Grant film, there is a Notting Hill that most people never hear about.

This walk takes you through the streets where Caribbean families built an entire community from scratch – because nobody else would let them in. We visit the sites of clubs, cafés, pubs, restaurants and shebeens that no longer exist, but whose stories shaped this neighbourhood.

You will hear about illegal gambling dens in basement rooms, the only pub in the neighbourhood that would serve a Black customer, a restaurant whose story changed British civil rights history, a James Bond actor with a secret second life, and a political scandal that connected these streets to the fall of a government.

We start outside Notting Hill Community Church, Kensington Park Road, and end at The Tabernacle on Powis Square. 75 minutes. The Notting Hill they do not tell you about.

Chief Executive of Notting Hill Carnival 1989–2002. A barrister who kept Europe’s largest street festival alive. Hear her story firsthand.

Dr Claire Holder OBE served as Chief Executive of Notting Hill Carnival from 1989 to 2002 – thirteen years that defined the modern era of Europe’s largest street festival. A barrister by training, she gave legal advice at the Black People’s Information Centre on Portobello Road before going on to navigate the legal, organisational and community challenges that come with running an event of Carnival’s scale.

Claire shares her story, her memories and her reflections on what it took to keep Carnival alive and how festivals can build rather than divide communities.

Sixty years of resistance, music and community. Where has Carnival been – and where is it going? A panel that matters.

Notting Hill Carnival is 60 years old. It started as a small community street party and became Europe’s biggest festival. But who built it, who runs it and who decides what happens next?

The evening will include a screening of Rosita Lynch’s documentary film about Carnival pioneer Russ Henderson – her godfather and the man who brought steel pan to the streets of Notting Hill in 1966.

Linett Kamala is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and DJ who has been part of Carnival’s sound system culture for decades. She brings the perspective of someone who understands Carnival not just as heritage but as a living art form.

Together with a third panellist to be announced, they will explore where Carnival has been, what it means today and where it is going – the music, the politics, the community and the future.

Join us for an in-depth 90-minute journey through Notting Hill’s Caribbean history.

90-Minute Guided Walk Through the Historic Heart of Caribbean London

Experience the incredible true stories that created Europe’s biggest street festival! This comprehensive walking tour visits all the essential sites where Caribbean history was made in Notting Hill, including the powerful story of Kelso Cochrane.

You’ll Learn About:

The Windrush generation’s arrival and early struggles
How violent racism was met with community organising
Kelso Cochrane’s tragic murder
The Mangrove Nine: Britain’s landmark civil rights case
How tragedy became triumph through music, culture and celebration

Perfect For:

Those wanting the complete Caribbean Notting Hill story
Anyone curious about the deeper history behind Carnival
People who want to understand how struggle, loss and resistance shaped a community
Visitors who want more time to absorb the history at each location

The hidden Caribbean history behind Notting Hill’s pastel houses. Shebeens, resistance and the Mangrove Nine. A walking tour like no other.

Behind the pastel houses and the Hugh Grant film, there is a Notting Hill that most people never hear about.

This walk takes you through the streets where Caribbean families built an entire community from scratch – because nobody else would let them in. We visit the sites of clubs, cafés, pubs, restaurants and shebeens that no longer exist, but whose stories shaped this neighbourhood.

You will hear about illegal gambling dens in basement rooms, the only pub in the neighbourhood that would serve a Black customer, a restaurant whose story changed British civil rights history, a James Bond actor with a secret second life, and a political scandal that connected these streets to the fall of a government.

We start outside Notting Hill Community Church, Kensington Park Road, and end at The Tabernacle on Powis Square. 75 minutes. The Notting Hill they do not tell you about.

Join us for an in-depth 90-minute journey through Notting Hill’s Caribbean history.

90-Minute Guided Walk Through the Historic Heart of Caribbean London

Experience the incredible true stories that created Europe’s biggest street festival! This comprehensive walking tour visits all the essential sites where Caribbean history was made in Notting Hill, including the powerful story of Kelso Cochrane.

You’ll Learn About:

The Windrush generation’s arrival and early struggles
How violent racism was met with community organising
Kelso Cochrane’s tragic murder
The Mangrove Nine: Britain’s landmark civil rights case
How tragedy became triumph through music, culture and celebration

Perfect For:

Those wanting the complete Caribbean Notting Hill story
Anyone curious about the deeper history behind Carnival
People who want to understand how struggle, loss and resistance shaped a community
Visitors who want more time to absorb the history at each location

Join us for an in-depth 90-minute journey through Notting Hill’s Caribbean history.

90-Minute Guided Walk Through the Historic Heart of Caribbean London

Experience the incredible true stories that created Europe’s biggest street festival! This comprehensive walking tour visits all the essential sites where Caribbean history was made in Notting Hill, including the powerful story of Kelso Cochrane.

You’ll Learn About:

The Windrush generation’s arrival and early struggles
How violent racism was met with community organising
Kelso Cochrane’s tragic murder
The Mangrove Nine: Britain’s landmark civil rights case
How tragedy became triumph through music, culture and celebration

Perfect For:

Those wanting the complete Caribbean Notting Hill story
Anyone curious about the deeper history behind Carnival
People who want to understand how struggle, loss and resistance shaped a community
Visitors who want more time to absorb the history at each location