Blue plaque marking ‘dawn of Carnival’ unveiled at Town Hall

Camden Council has unveiled an “historic” blue plaque on its doorstep to mark the site of Britain’s first Caribbean Carnival.

On Thursday (26 June), councillors, campaigners, and others gathered at the local authority’s headquarters for a ceremony recognising the landmark event – widely considered the forerunner to the renowned Notting Hill summer street parade.

Speakers saluted the legacy of Trinidad-born journalist and activist Claudia Jones, who organised the festival at the Town Hall in 1959.

Camden’s cabinet member for culture, Cllr Sabrina Francis, called it a “truly historic day”.

“Not only are we honouring the UK’s first Caribbean Carnival, but we’re doing so with the first plaque ever unveiled at Camden Town Hall.

“As a person of Caribbean heritage, I feel the pride and energy of that first Carnival all those years ago,” she said.

“I can’t think of a more meaningful way to close this year’s Windrush Day celebrations.”

The marker itself was unveiled on the building’s steps by the Queen of Notting Hill Carnival, who had been stood in front of the plaque for at least in hour.

Her towering, kaleidoscopic costume, designed by Mahogany Carnival Arts, helped obscure the badge on the building’s facade.

Also joining the tributes were Allyson Williams MBE and the High Commission for Trinidad and Tobago’s public affairs, culture and tourism officer, Beverley Reviero-Awonaya.

In a speech given in the Town Hall’s ‘Claudia Jones Room’, Reviero-Awonaya recounted the legacy of Jones, a Black nationalist and communist, who also set up Britain’s first major commercial Black newspaper, the West Indian Gazette.

The 1959 event itself, she said, was triggered in part by the “horrible” unsolved murder of Kelso Cochrane, an Antiguan man who was killed in a racially-motivated attack in Notting Hill by a gang of youths.

At the time, the district was a hotbed for Oswald Mosley’s far-right Union Movement.

“Claudia turned to Carnival as an antidote,” Reviero-Awonaya said, “not just to the systemic discrimination, but as a triumphant celebration of the art and culture that she experienced as a child in Belmont, Trinidad.”

Children from local schools also attended the ceremony, where attendees heard music peformed by the Camden Youth Steel Band.

Argyle Primary pupils recited the poem ‘Windrush Child’ by the Guyanese-British poet and playwright John Agard.

Speaking to the Citizen, Cllr Francis said: “We’re very lucky in the borough to have an incredibly rich history that cuts across lots of different communities.

“But to have something like the first Caribbean carnival and to know it happened in our building is pretty cool.”

With the UK having recently commemorated Windrush Day, she added: “It’s easy to regress if you’re not reminded of people’s contributions.

“I don’t believe any any person or culture has to be perfect to be remembered. Everyone deserves that respect.”

Cabinet member for equalities and cohesion, Cllr Nadia Shah, said: “In the face of darkness, you respond with light.

“That’s a legacy Camden has carried for generations, and one the world can learn from today.”