Notting Hill Carnival safety fears

Carnival turns Notting Hill into a kaleidoscope of sound and colour

By CNN's Joe Clancy

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two million people are expected to converge on the streets of west London this weekend for Europe's biggest street festival: the Notting Hill Carnival.

The 37th Caribbean-style carnival is going ahead despite "grave concerns" about public safety being expressed by London's Metropolitan Police.

The force is putting 9,000 officers -- an extra 1,200 -- on duty in an operation costing £4 million ($5.5m) and has insisted that organisers recruit and train 600 stewards.

It says the cost of policing the event will make it the most expensive public order operation ever.

Two people were murdered at last year's carnival, bringing reminders of the violence and crime that often dogged the event in the 1970s and 1980s.

The carnival has its traditions in the West Indian community that inhabited the now fashionable district recently made famous by the film Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

Safety fears have been heightened this year by race riots that have rocked the northern England towns of Bradford, Oldham, Burnley and Leeds.

Calypso and steel bands are at the heart of the festivities

Concerns have been raised that far-right groups will attempt to stoke up tensions and turn the streets into a race-hate battlefield.

Police have also expressed fears that armed drugs gangs could use the street party to settle scores.

Only last month Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens was warning that he may have to urge people to stay away from this year's carnival.

But after meetings with carnival organisers and London's mayor Ken Livingstone, he issued this statement: "The priority now is to have a fully-recruited and fully-trained stewarding operation to support the extra 1,200 officers policing the event."

But safety concerns have led to the cancellation of some of the carnival's star attractions this year. The three main stages -- featuring BBC Radio 1, MTV and Damon Albarn's band, Gorillaz -- have all pulled out.

It is the first time since 1980 that there will be no live stages at the carnival. But despite the problems organisers expect this year's event to be as big as ever.

Spokeswoman Steph Harwood said: "It has been a very difficult year for us this year with the security concerns, partucularly after the two murders.

"It is a great disappointment that there will be no live stages this year. That has also resulted in a substantial loss of revenue."

She said support for carnival had been enhanced because of the problems. "We had to find 300 extra stewards and we had 1,000 applicants in to two days," she added.

Notting Hill Carnival started in 1964 as a local affair set up by the West Indian immigrants of the area and has become a full-blooded Caribbean carnival, attracting millions of people from all around the world.

In recent years it has grown and grown with groups participating from Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Russia, Brazil as well as from all parts of the Caribbean, Africa, Central and South America and the United Kingdom.

Notting Hill Carnival operates an all-inclusive policy, encouraging artists to celebrate their cultural traditions through art, dance and music.

For three days every August, the leafy streets of stucco-fronted villas and trendy shops are full of the sound of steel bands, giant sound systems and the smell of Caribbean cuisine.

The action begins on Saturday night with Panorama -- the British steel band championship. It continues throughout Sunday and Monday with music, dancing, and parades.

It will feature 65 masquerade bands, 10 steel bands, 12 calypso singers, 35 static sound systems, 20 soca sound systems, and more than 300 food stalls.