Revelers pack London streets as Notting Hill Carnival celebrates Caribbean culture

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of revelers have packed the streets of west London for the climax of the Notting Hill Carnival, one of the world’s biggest celebrations of Caribbean music and culture. Organizers say up to 2 million people are expected to attend the two=day festival billed as Europe’s largest street party. Launched in 1964 with a few Trinidadian steel bands, it has grown into a huge annual event. There are colorful floats, thousands of calypso dancers in spectacular feathered costumes, almost 20 steel bands and more than two dozen sound systems. The carnival returned to the streets last year after two years when it had to be held online because of the coronavirus pandemic.