Future scenarios for the Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival faces financial difficulties 

On 25 October 2012 King’s College of the University of London hosted a symposium about the Entrepreneurial Legacies of the Notting Hill Carnival. According to the webpage of the symposium the Carnival is the largest street parade in Europe and attracts over 2 million visitors. But due to festival organisers’ alleged lack of entrepreneurial and organizational skills the Notting Hill Carnival, just like other Caribbean carnivals, has been plagued by financial difficulties and a steady stream of criticism in the media; a type of discourse that is also replicated within the academic literature. Different speakers representing the carnival industry and academics challenged the discourse within popular media and within academia. The presentations were complemented by in-depth panel discussions. (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/cmci/eventrecords/carnival.aspx).

Carnival has to be reinvented

In her keynote dr. Suzan Burke (University of West Indies) explained how the Caribbean Carnival, that originated at Trinidad, spread over the world, has been modified through the ages and seems at the top of its life cycle. Being at the top of the life cycle means that the Carnival has to be reinvented and the product and the process have to be innovated, says Burke. SubsequentlyRobin Croft and dr. Nigel Williams (University of Bedfordshire) talked about the changing role of technology, the change of social norms and the democratization of the media that will affect such innovation processes.Wendel Clement (Poison UK Events Limited) discussed survival strategies for niche entertainment businesses. 

Future scenarios

I was invited by organizer Nicole Ferdinand to address the future of the Carnival and to discuss a fewfuture scenarios of the Notting Hill Carnival. Based on the information received beforehand, Albert Postma has analysed the major issues and uncertainties and the information made clear that it is mainly internal issues that dominate. Internal issues refer to issues connected to the Carnival itself, and not so much to the demographic, economic, social, technological, ecological and legal environment. Based on this information Postma crafted a few target scenario’s that he presented at the symposium. The scenarios show how possible outcomes of uncertain development could intervene and create different direction in which the Carnival could develop. In the panel discussion ‘putting networks to work’ Postma shared his views with four other experts from the industry.

In the afternoon programme Nicole Ferdinand (PhD candidate King’s College London, Dept. of Culture Media and the Creative Industries), talked about the entrepreneurial legacy of the Notting Hill masquerade bands. This was followed by a second panel discussion on the theme ‘building on the legacy – how do we get others on board’.