Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

not be allowed onto the Carnival route. Such organisations should be required to
sponsor participating bands. BAS strongly recommends that efforts should be made to
bring brass bands and calypsonians back onto the route and to incorporate their
presence into the Carnival scene.”
1.65.4 as well as competing with commercial floats, steel band players also find themselves
being drowned out by the large mobile sound systems on the route.
1.65.5 the continued development and growth of steel-pan was dependent upon stability and,
at the root of this, was access to a dedicated pan yard for each band and proper
funding.
1.66 Panorama, the key pre-Carnival event for steel bands is held in Kensal Road and makes use of
Horniman’s Pleasance Park for the crowd and audience purposes. Close working relationships
with the police had resulted in making maximum use of the park’s facilities and the introduction
of large screens, music and improved stewarding had served to ease some of the problems
associated with crowd control. As an annual event, the Panorama provided a platform for young
and talented musicians to display their skill and dexterity in front of thousands of people. As the
last event before the Two Days of Carnival, the Panorama was generally viewed as “the jewel in
the crown” of the pre-Carnival events.
1.67 In recent years BAS had been investigating the possibility of using alternative local venues to
replace the Kensal Road. The impending redevelopment of the Kensal Road area and the
building of new residential units did not bode well for the continued use of this particular area
for the Panorama. The search for an alternative venue was seen by BAS as an opportunity to
secure a venue that would allow them to charge an admittance fee and therefore raise funds.
This was seen as a priority objective for the steel band movement. In addition, the bands
expressed a keen desire to see the reintroduction of J’Ouvert (i.e. the early morning opening of
Carnival) for steel band performances only on a short, circular route (Golbourne Road, Ladbroke
Grove, Westbourne Park Road, Great Western Road and back to Golbourne Road) and
commencing at 6.00am.
1.68 The Review Group acknowledged the immense skills that steel pan players were required to
develop in order to perform at carnivals and festivals, both nationally and internationally. Their
art-form required them to learn - without the use of musical scores - complex classical pieces,
executed to exacting professional standards. The case presented by BAS was also linked to their
vision of developing a sustainable infrastructure to promote the art of play and performing the
steel pan in London. The reintroduction of a national Steel band Music Festival, designed to
complement the European and world competitions, was seen as a very important part of this
vision. BAS argued that such a festival would not only serve to raise the profile of the steel-pan
and integrate it into mainstream music in the UK, it would also provide a platform for British
bands to clearly demonstrate the versatility of the instrument, musicianship and talent of the
exponents involved in the art form.
Soca – the Music of Carnival
1.69 The Caribbean Music Association (CMA), the representative voice for disc jockeys (‘DJs’)
specialising in soca music, was clear about the changes that their members wished to see at
future Carnivals. The removal of all non-carnival related floats from the route and/or the
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