Posted by With no physical parade celebrations this year, the lack of thousands of revellers in carnival line processions skanking their way through Notting Hill and other fiestas left a huge gap for many last weekend.
Wray & Nephew stepped up to fill that void with their ‘Yard to Yard‘ show, truly pulling together the community online.
Transporting the Caribbean spirit through the airwaves and pumping that carnival vibe through wireless routers to the thirsty masses.
Part of the one-off, high energy special was hosted at Camden Town Hall with MIST and Lady ICE both filmed in-situ. A site where many believe the carnival spirit was cemented. It was here in 1959 that Caribbean political activist, Claudia Jones, started the movement with a dance at the venue in response to the race protests. Showcasing what the West Indian community had to offer the United Kingdom in the way of cultural wealth. These inspirational dances united the community and paved the way for what we now know as Carnival Weekend.
No Signal DJs held it down as audiences were treated to a traditional steelpan NS10v10 CLASH – truly epic scenes not to be missed. With the Ebony Spartans Steel Band taking home the Carnival crown for tunes including ‘Must Be’ by J HUS, ‘Clarks’ by Vybz Kartel and ‘Dont Rush’ by Young T & Bugsey. Seriously, worth the restream to see this throw down alone.
The stream was interjected at timely intervals with a series of short films celebrating Carnival history over the decades and exclusive performances from renowned Jamaican dancehall artist Popcaan – filmed direct from Portmore, Jamaica.
Speaking on his performance, Popcaan said “Family matters most in these times – Carnival is one of the events in which we can all have fun and represent our culture all over the world. Shout out MIST and the Wray & Nephew fam for doing big tings. in the current climate, I’m glad to be a part of it and at least even for one day, we can celebrate who we are.”
Tune in now via Wray & Nephews Youtube channel.
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