Hopes were high but feelings were uncertain as Oxford’s much-loved carnival returned to the road on 1 September 2024. Forecasters warned of storms; gloom-mongers wondered whether people would turn out in any numbers after a long absence. Covid lockdowns and a series of management and financial challenges had left Cowley Road slumbering in silence for several years.
The result surely exceeded the organisers’ expectations. The sun shone, aromatic smoke from jerk chicken and biriani stalls drifted over Manzil Gardens, families picnicked on the grass in what shade they could find, and sound systems filled Cowley Road and side streets with music (switched off as the carnival passed).
The verdict? A resounding, colourful, joyous, non-polluting success! Estimating numbers is always difficult, but in the past Cowley Road Carnival has attracted up to 50,000 people, and this year’s figure was probably not far short of that. Quite a number of visitors had travelled up from London.
Some 600 people in 25 groups took part, and an eclectic bunch they were too, reminding us that Oxford may be only 60 miles from the capital, but it inhabits a greener, more ‘conscious’ planet with a decidedly eccentric orbit.
The carnival encompassed enthusiastic samba bands, roller-skaters and the lively Horns of Plenty brass band. Local mas bands, an Extinction Rebellion contingent and a small but vocal group from Timor Leste added to the colour. From London, Jamboulay brought Notting Hill-style mas, while leading the procession from The Plain to Divinity Road was Nostalgia Steel Band, celebrating – against innumerable odds – 60 years of pan on the road.
Nostalgia’s heritage goes back the pan-round-the-neck side of Russell Henderson, Sterling Betancourt and Ralph Cherrie playing at Rhaune Laslett’s children’s street parties in 1964 and 1965. Then Laslett invited them to play in the inaugural parade for the September 1966 ‘Notting Hill Fayre’. The irresistible notes of steelpan music started the unintended conversion of a small west London community ‘fayre’ into a world-ranking Caribbean-style carnival. To judge by the enthusiastic reception on Cowley Road, the sound of steel can still work its magic.
The small stage in Manzil Gardens hosted a variety of acts from Nigerian rapper Shona, the ‘art funk groove band’ Lee Christian & the Prohibition Smoking Club, Nostalgia, soca artiste Scrappy and a finale that combined Scrappy, Sol Samba and Horns of Plenty playing – of all things – David Rudder’s The Hammer.
It was a suitably eccentric, entertaining and carnivalesque note to end on. Congratulations to Pax Nindi and his team at Cowley Road Works for pulling it all together and to those funders – notably the Arts Council of England – that supported the event (and shame on those that didn’t!).
