Witness History - Notting Hill Race Riot
In August 1958, Britain was shocked by nearly a week of race riots in the west London district of Notting Hill. The clashes between West Indian immigrants and aggressive white youths known as Teddy Boys led to the first race relations campaigns and the creation of the famous Notting Hill Carnival. Simon Watts reports.
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Stories from Notting Hill - Enterprise
Writer and actor Kwame Kwei-Armah discovers how the Notting Hill Carnival was transformed from a British urban arts festival into a global phenomenon during the 1980s and 1990s - but at great personal cost to those at the heart of the organization of the event. This was the era when the carnival-goers increased year-on-year, until numbers reached two million in 1999. The costumes and the bands also became bigger every year. Big name sponsors were persuaded to invest and the carnival looked well-positioned to becoming a fully commercial enterprise. However, although crime at the Carnival was generally low, in 1987 a man was fatally wounded. By 2000, four deaths had been linked to the event and the carnival organisation came under intense scrutiny. Producer: Pam Fraser Solomon A Culture Wise production for BBC Radio 4.
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One day in - Leeds
The Leeds West Indian Carnival began in 1967 as one man's cure for his homesickness. It now attracts up to 150,000 visitors every year, generating an estimated ten million pounds for the local economy. In this programme, dancers, designers, police and parade-goers all tell their stories as we follow their progress, from sunrise to sunset. Costume designer Hughbon Condor trained as an engineer, and it shows. One of his creations consists of giant bat wings which, when unfurled, release lots of tiny bats all dancing around the "parent." Meanwhile, his son Sephbon is busy constructing his own creation, hoping to outdo his father and be crowned Carnival King. As the last minute preparations and costume repairs are executed, stall holders are getting ready to sell succulent jerk chicken for eight hours non-stop. And, as the carnival beat begins to rise, Chief Inspector Matt Davison is briefing his officers on how to safely and successfully police the heady mix of spices, soca, drum and bass, and alcohol. One Day in Summer was recorded on August 25th 2014, and follows the stories of designers, dancers, chefs and carnival-goers as they take to the streets of Chapeltown in Leeds. Producer: John Byrne.
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Queens of Chapeltown - Leeds
After the violence directed at black people in Nottingham and Notting Hill in the 1950s, and the naked racism expressed in Smethwick during the 1964 general election, a group of pioneering West Indians came up with a simple and defiant riposte: Carnival. In Queens of Chapeltown, Colin Grant goes behind the scenes of Carnival to its Leeds West Indian HQ in Chapeltown - amidst the glue guns, sequins and feathers - to capture that moment of extraordinary transformation, 50 years on: the birth of a tradition which, for one weekend in August, would wash away the bad taste of anti immigrant sentiment with a burst of colour and flash of exuberance that would forever change Britain. Grant travels to Leeds to talk with the pioneers and celebrate the endurance and growth of Carnival.
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The Untold - Every second Counts
As you drive into Bridgwater, a sign reads "The home of Carnival". The town prides itself on being the oldest and biggest carnival in Europe, and it's the biggest event of the year. For hundreds of years they've held a carnival here. This is an industrial town - a town full of engineers and tradesmen - and this is their creative outlet. Every November, thousands of people flock to see the show of carts come through the town centre. Enormous moving feats of electrical engineering, which are covered in lights and animatronics. At the end of it, one cart will be crowned winner of the Ker Cup - the most prestigious prize at the carnival. Alan Windsor, or Winds, is our guide. Born and bred in Bridgwater, Alan is captain of the Marketeers carnival club.
All year round they fundraise and build towards the big night. They're known as the Bridesmaids - the club that always come second. Across the industrial estate are their arch rivals - if you want to win, you have to beat the Gremlins. They've won 23 of the last 31 carnivals - and for those 31 years, the Marketeers have consistently been on their tails. This year, the Marketeers are building something special: a 100ft space machine, covered in 250,000 LED lights - "nothing like this has ever been seen on the streets of Bridgwater before." Could this year be the year that the Marketeers' luck changes and they beat the Gremlins to the Ker Cup? This is a story of dedication, loyalty - and never giving up. Producer: Polly Weston.
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