Childrens Day, Notting Hill Carnival: Sunday 29th August 2004 was Children’s Day at Notting Hill Carnival and back in 2004 I wrote just two short paragraphs to go with a large number of pictures.
“I don’t know whose wallet it was in the hand I caught as it reached into my pocket in Cambridge Gardens, but it wasn’t mine. It wasn’t the time or place to argue much, so I let the youth wriggle away.”
“The 40th Notting Hill Carnival was living up to its reputation, in this and also in the friendliness of most of the participants. This was Children’s Day, so I took my son, and will embarrass him with a couple of pictures of him dancing. But mostly it was what we have come to expect, and a little dull weather and the odd shower didn’t mar the celebrations”
I didn’t take my wallet to Notting Hill, but in a densely-packed crowd found a hand putting an empty one back into my left front trouser pocket. Perhaps he thought he had earlier taken it from that same pocket before removing the contents and was trying to replace it, or did he just want an easy way to get rid of the evidence.
I think I probably went to carnival on around twenty or thirty days over the years, though I’ve not been recently. Apart from this rather odd incident I saw very little criminality apart from the widespread smoking of weed – and I picked up enough secondary smoke some days to make me rather high.
But generally there were many more pickpockets on crowded underground trains and much more violence in the crowds around football stadiums. Press reports always greatly exaggerated the negative sides of the event and I never felt unsafe. When there were reports of trouble it was usually late in the day when I had gone home.
But I did take some simple precautions – taking a couple of notes and some coins rather than my wallet and credit cards, and being more careful than usual with my photo gear. I carried less than usual and kept it in a small ex-military shoulder bag – though in crowds I carried this around my neck and in front of my body.
Attitude is also important. Some photographers seem to me to be rather confrontational but I followed my normal friendly nature, smiling, talking and at times dancing with people. Like most of the others at the event I was there to have a good time. And to have just a can or two of Red Stripe – and some of my free annual malt fix.
You can see more pictures from Childrens Day beginning here on My London Diary.
And I went back on the following day on my own for the carnival proper – pictures begin here.
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