I think this was a very special event. Great British Carnival isnt the best name, neither is Queen Elizabeth Park, but aside from that there was something very unique about this and I cant think of a better thing to take kids to...
I hadnt been to the Olympic park before - nice to see what that extra £10 a month of council tax for the last 10 years has been spent on. Ive always thought the big red tower looked a bit ugly from a distance, but up close its quite impressive, like an arthouse rollercoaster. The park space is all brand new and a little too perfectly manicured but its a pleasant environment really.
Anyhow, the event itself worked really well - lots of wonderful carnival music - must admit i didnt really check any of it as i was glued to the speakerstack, but i did have a quick runround before the final closing carnival procession, and caught Rhythms of the City who looked to be a great community samba band.
The carnival procession was done beautifully, fantastic costumes and great to see so many kids involved. I look forward to seeing some photos of it. There was plenty of space, it was very family friendly, and it made me realise just how fucked up notting hill carnival is. The carnival procession bit of NH carnival really suffers due to the amount of people who turn out. (i reckon the best way to sort out NH carnival is have one day of jsut carnival processions/truck sounds and another day of static sounds - or better still 1 day of carnival, saturday + 2 days of statics, sun monday!)
Not only was this thing brilliantly organised, the main thing was how safe a space it was for families, children running around all over the place, getting involved, doing cartwheels, making new friends ... i found it all very idyllic and the atmosphere was very special as a result.
I hear they hope to make this an annual fixture, so fingers crossed for that. Definitely will be back next year if it is....
