Feature

Ode to Carnival

Why do I love carnival? Let me count the ways... I love carnival because of the incredible buzz you get from chipping through the streets,...

Joseph Charles - Mon 19 Aug 2019

It may be a PURE LIME, but it’s all about the...

Pure Lime has been around as long as people have been rubbing chocolate onto their bodies at Notting Hill Carnival. As the original chocolate...

Katie Segal - Sun 18 Aug 2019

Calling on the diaspora – the Caribbean Skills Bank

The images are harrowing. Houses with their roofs blown off, trees strewn across the road, power lines wrecked, transport thrown into confusion, people crying,...

Stephen Spark - Sun 11 Aug 2019

Stinky sargassum could smell sweet for the Caribbean

A strange brown island the size of Jamaica has appeared in the Atlantic Ocean. It has no name and appears on no maps yet...

Stephen Spark - Sun 21 Jul 2019

Grenfell Tower – two years after the fire

Bells tolled, prayers were intoned and buildings (including the Houses of Parliament) were lit up in ‘Grenfell green’, but two years after Britain’s worst...

Stephen Spark - Sun 23 Jun 2019

Ulric Cross, Hero

Until now, Ulric Cross has been an unfamiliar name to most - but this is a man whose life story already sounds like a...

Katie Segal - Tue 28 May 2019

Miss Barbados UK, more than just a sash and title

The fifth annual Miss Barbados UK competition is scheduled to take place at The Classic Banqueting Suite on Sunday 5 May. The first event...

Joseph Charles - Sun 14 Apr 2019

Notting Hill Carnival’s Roots and Resilience

Darcus Howe said he took part in the first Notting Hill Carnival – and then claimed that was in 1964, 1965 and 1966! So...

Stephen Spark - Sun 24 Feb 2019

Kartonia Miller-Regis, Grand Designs

Elimu Paddington Arts Band holds a unique position amongst mas bands in that they create, in their words, a ‘moving exhibition’ on the roads...

Katie Segal - Sat 23 Feb 2019

Carnival Village is clear favourite to run Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival Limited (NHCL) is likely to be organising Notting Hill Carnival for the next three years and receive funding of £300,000 in...

Stephen Spark - Wed 31 Oct 2018

Sun, sea and rum: Barbados Food and Rum Festival

In late autumn, when memories of Europe’s scorchingly hot summer are already fading, Barbados is going to look a very tempting prospect. From 18...

Lynette Ametewee - Fri 05 Oct 2018

Mas Revolution, Antiguan style

All seasoned, newer and potential masqueraders are painfully aware that mas has become a pretty expensive proposition. From Carnival Loans in Trinidad to the...

Katie Segal - Mon 17 Sep 2018

Notting Hill Carnival 2018 – back to the future

The hall was hot and steamy and reverberating to the sound of steelpan. Round the sides, stalls offered cold beers, rum punch, doubles and...

Stephen Spark - Wed 01 Aug 2018

UK Government rocked by Windrush storm

A ‘hostile’ immigration policy has wrecked lives, forced the resignation of the home secretary and further tarnished Britain’s reputation abroad. As the Windrush Generation...

Stephen Spark - Thu 21 Jun 2018

Notting Hill Carnival: maligned and misused

“Six more stabbings in a night – now urgent review of police crime tactics is launched.” No, the Evening Standard headline of 9 May wasn’t...

Stephen Spark - Mon 11 Jun 2018

Carnival surveillance scandal: if the face fits…

… you’re nicked! That, at least, is how the Metropolitan Police hoped to operate at Notting Hill Carnival 2016 and 2017. It didn’t quite...

Stephen Spark - Mon 04 Jun 2018

Why does politics turn men into toads?*

Answer: Because they are being mercilessly lampooned in a European pre-Lenten carnival. In past centuries Carnival in England used to be an opportunity for poking...

Stephen Spark - Mon 04 Jun 2018

Carnival Village to lead or not to lead

Notting Hill Carnival, that magnificent juggernaut that comes around every last Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday in August, is almost upon us. In a...

Joseph Charles - Thu 17 May 2018

Feature The Islander

Tanya-Nicole, the multi-talented entertaining young Islander

Tanya-Nicole Edwards is a singer, songwriter, musician and actress. She was born for the stage, and from a very early age her talent has...

Ionie Benjamin - Fri 23 Mar 2018

Feature Food & Drink News

Discredited Council strips Notting Hill Carnival leaders of funding

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has pulled the plug on London Notting Hill Carnival Enterprises Trust (LNHCET), organiser of Europe’s largest...

Stephen Spark - Thu 15 Mar 2018

Feature Travel

St Kitts and Nevis your perfect music festival paradise

St. Kitts and Nevis are the sort of islands that dreams are made of: a lush tropical landscape, pristine beaches, luxury hotels, gourmet restaurants...

Rachel Ritfeld - Tue 20 Feb 2018

The Spirit of Christmas

Christmas, as we know, celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, on whom Christianity in its myriad forms was founded

Nicole-Rachelle Moore - Fri 22 Dec 2017

Feature Food & Drink

Barbados Food and Rum Festival Whets the Appetite

Barbados will host its annual celebration of indigenous fine and fun cuisine from November 16 to 19

Nicole-Rachelle Moore - Thu 12 Oct 2017

Ros Price: a celebration of love and creativity

On 9 September, Oval House witnessed a wonderful celebration of the life of Ros Price

Stephen Spark - Sun 08 Oct 2017

Gloria Cummins

The well-known leader of Flamboyan mas band – one of the oldest in Notting Hill Carnival – passed away in St Mary’s Hospital

Shabaka Thompson - Thu 05 Oct 2017

Police boasts which linked arrests to Carnival provoke backlash

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has been widely ridiculed for tweeting about drugs raids in distant parts of its territory and linking them – unjustifiably many believe – to Notting Hill Carnival

Stephen Spark - Thu 24 Aug 2017

Leeds West Indian Carnival – Golden 50!

The UK carnival season reaches a double peak on August Bank holiday in London and Leeds

Angela Chappell - Tue 22 Aug 2017