Tyla, Colourful Costumes, Unforgettable Vibes: Notting Hill Carnival Ignites London Chioma Emma breaks down the biggest street party attended by millions - Notting Hill Carnival. 27 August 2025 Every summer, rhythm explodes on the streets of London with feathers, sequins, steel drums, and unapologetic joy. Global pop star - Tyla Millions from around the world will attend the biggest street party. South African chart topper Tyla got in on the festive vibe, filming a carnival 'prep' segment with BBC Radio 1Xtra's Nadia Jae. This is not another holiday. It is carnival time. It's culture on a parade - a reminder to the world of what it means to be alive. A heritage to remember Notting Hill Carnival is a love letter to Caribbean heritage. From Trinidad's mas bands and Jamaican soca to the heartbeat of steelpan and the pulse of reggae, the celebration carries the voices of ancestors who arrived in Britain with little more than hope and courage. Families follow with their own parade, proof that the next generation is ready to carry the torch. Then comes Monday - the main event: the grown-up storm of music, floats, costumes and sound systems so powerful you feel them in your bones. Bigger celebration than we think The Notting Hill Carnival is not another date on the calendar. Over a million people spill into west London, their energy undeniably fusing into one unstoppable current of sound and colour. Every turn of the street is a masterpiece with powerful decorations that leave you turning 360 just to catch a glimpse of the street and costume decor. Whether it's a masquerade crowned in feathers shimmering like sunlight, a steel-pan group coaxing golden music from silver drums, strangers from sudden parts breaking bread on the pavement as if they've known each other forever, Carnival is an unmissable event. And that's what Carnival does. Its power is seen and felt. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Courture dresses, sourdough breads and brilliant marketing: How Nara Smith reinvented the 'trad wife' aesthetic Tension Behind the Beauty Beauty rarely comes without pressure. This year's Carnival almost didn't happen. A serious financial crisis threatened to silence the festival this year but an emergency £1 million fund rescued the event. Yet the stakes remain high. With 7,000 police officers deployed for security. Stop-and-search procedures alongside facial recognition technology were all employed to beef up security during the celebration. Some call it necessary; others fear it risks turning Carnival into something it was never meant to be. But then, ask the dancers draped in sequins, the children chasing confetti, the elders who have carried this tradition for decades, and they'll tell you the carnival's essence can't be policed. It lives in the people, and a few extra boys in blue would change that. Standing at the Crossroads. And yet the question still remains: what happens next? Because of funding delays, whispers of ticketing and relocation loomed over the Notting Hill streets. These solutions might pay bills but could strip the Carnival of its true essence and entire existence - its accessibility and power of freedom. The choice is simple but not easy. It's either they protect the Carnival as it is - authentic, open and at grassroots or risk watching it dissolve into a polished but hollow imitation of itself. MORE FROM CHIMOA EMMA: Cara Delevingne celebrates reopening of TopShop but can the store go against big brands Tagged in London