So, we all know how I feel about Notting Hill Carnival, (if you don’t, I made my confession on this post), so this August bank holiday I was obviously going elsewhere.

I’d heard good things about Leeds Carnival – my Mum had been as a child and people we met at Manchester Carnival had said that Leeds was lit, so I decided to give it a go.

From my understanding, all the action for Leeds West Indian Carnival happens on the Bank Holiday Monday with the J’ouvert and Parade. My friend and I made it to the parade and followed our favourite mas bands the whole way and it was SO.MUCH.FUN. Everyone showed up and showed out! Every float was playing soca, calpyso, etc, (except one which was playing jungle – slightly odd but I’ll let them off), and people were dancing with vim! There was enough space to dance and, although the streets were lined with people, we were free to move along without any real agg.

I would say Leeds is very similar to Manchester in the sense that it is contained within a park once the parade is done. Having said that, Potternewton Park is huge, way bigger than Alexandra Park in Manchester. I did not realise quite how massive it was until we were in and saw a literal sea of people. Still, we had space to dance, and move around the park. There were food stalls dotted around and I got myself a delicious callaloo patty but there were loads of different vendors selling Ital food, African food and even Portuguese food.

In terms of music stands, we only found one outside of the main stage. Maybe we just didn’t clock the others so lmk if I missed something! Otherwise, once the fun in the park was over, (at 8pm sharp, just like Manchester), we moved onto the street parties. We found one right outside an entrance to the park by a off-licence called Harry’s. We had enough room to dance and move, no one groped or grabbed us and we had the absolute best time dancing whilst dusk fell over the sky.

Events like these really and truly make me sososo proud to be a part of such a fun-loving, rich and beautiful culture. It’s even better that I get to share it with my friends too. If you’ve had enough of Notting Hill or just want to try something different, I think the carnivals up north are a go-er!