Nottingham Carnival Parade

On Sunday afternoon I headed out to the Victoria Embankment in Nottingham to watch the Nottingham Carnival Parade. In fact, because my bus dropped me off at one end of Wilford Grove I walked along to the end of that stretch of road as I knew that was part of the parade route, rather than heading closer to the river. It proved to be a pretty good spot and I got there early enough to be at the front with plenty of space around – it definitely got busier as time went on.

You might be surprised, as I was, to learn that the Nottingham Carnival started in 1958 which makes it the longest running outdoor carnival in the UK, predating Notting Hill (which is definitely bigger) by some years. This year’s parade included 13 troupes, some as local as Derby and Leicester and others from as far away as Trinidad and Bolivia.

It was a fun event, lots of people dancing along the parade route and people of all ages and races enjoying the parade with some wonderful costumes and dancers. The carnival itself is accessed by ticket and included stalls, stages and rides but the parade was free to watch.