LONDON – Organizers of Europe’s biggest street fair, which traces its roots to the emancipation of Black slaves and race riots in London during the late 1950s, say the event is more important than ever amid the worldwide campaign for justice after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis.But their message of resistance and reconciliation will be delivered online worldwide this weekend after the COVID-19 pandemic forced London's Notting Hill Carnival to reinvent itself as a virtual event.
Even though it won't be the same, carnival must be celebrated as a mark of Black liberation, said Clary Salandy, artistic director of Mahogany Carnival Arts, which creates brightly colored costumes that are essentially wearable sculptures — some.