Carnival in Liverpool

By Sonia Bassey

From being young living in Toxteth one of the best things about the Summer in Liverpool 8 was the Caribbean Carnival. All the costumes, colours, music and what seemed like hundreds of people enjoying themselves was fantastic to be part of.

Standing on Princes Avenue in August this year taking photographs of the Carnival Parade took me back 27 years when I was standing on Parliament Street, aged 14 years, doing exactly the same thing. The costumes looked fantastic and friends of mine were on floats taking part in the parade.

Carnival's roots go back as far as the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833 when the first carnival was held in Trinidad with Black Caribbeans having their own carnival parties with songs dance and costumes. In the 1950's the first significant numbers of West Indians came to Britain and along with them they brought their own musical traditions. The first carnival was held in Britain in 1959. Carnival in Britain continued every year in London finally settling in Notting Hill in 1964. As other West Indian immigrants and white locals joined the festivities year on year, carnival grew to its current huge proportions and came to other cities.

Liverpool has been holding its own Carnival since 1978. For years it was held in the Caribbean Centre and organised by many people over the years such as the Caribbean Carnival Committee, World Promotions, Radio Doom and Ivan Freeman. One year it is was split over three sites with activities taking place in the Caribbean Centre, Granby Field and Toxteth Sports Centre. Steelpan, sound systems, soca and calypso were all familiar sounds that carried across the neighbourhood throughout the day and night getting everyone in the party mood. Sadly many things have come to an end in our community as did Carnival, so when I was approached by Brouhaha International and Groundwork UK to support them in setting up a small event to raise awareness of Princes Park little did I or Giles Agis know it would become a major event in Toxteth and the city as a whole.

The World in Princes Park Event organised by Brouhaha International and Include Regeneration Ltd has now been running for three years and has got bigger and better each year. The most significant thing about the event for me is that it is in the heart of Liverpool 8, an area traditionally promoted for all the negative stereotypes the press can portray it for. I am proud to have lived in this area when I was young and am proud to be still working in this area to this day. Its regeneration and positive promotion are important to me so I was delighted to become a partner in the event to raise the profile of the area - Princes Park as an under utilised green space, create opportunities for local people and positively promote Liverpool 8.

Having an event for three years without incident and the full support of Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council is a significant achievement and it says a lot about the image of Liverpool 8 and the people who live there.

In addition to the fantastic parade, the event creates many opportunities for local people to get involved. People can get involved in the parade by making costumes and taking part in the procession along Princes Avenue with over 1000 people taking part in the parade this year and this year local promoters were also involved in brining acts to the city.

There are opportunities for people to perform alongside participants from other countries. A local security firm is employed and stalls and catering opportunities are also offered to local people. The event has everything from from hip hop, house and salsa to West African drumming, costumed masquerade bands, floats, steel bands, and live stages. For many people the event is becoming a celebration and reflection of Liverpool's unique multicultural make-up.

I am sure other people who took part in Carnival and past organisers have more memories of Carnival in Liverpool and photographs of their own. If you would like to share those memories and photographs of carnival please contact Diverse on    0151 707 6550   .