The 2nd Largest Carnival in the World and Europe's Biggest: Notting Hill Carnival

You may have heard of a little neighborhood in London called Notting Hill. It was made famous by the Julia Roberts / Hugh Grant movie, but the real spotlight on the neighborhood happens once a year at the Notting Hill Carnival.

During the last weekend in August (which also has a bank holiday on Monday), the streets shut down to cars and the neighborhood lights up with music, drinks, floats in a parade, costumes and lots and lots of people.

We had heard this was something we had to experience while living in London. Last year, we were out of town, so this year we knew we had to go. I would describe it as a giant Caribbean block party. We had delicious jerk chicken, grilled corn and Red Stripe. There's a parade with Brazilian-style outfits and floats. You wander through the streets and it seems at every turn is a new stage with Caribbean music playing and people dancing. The people watching and outfits are fantastic. Everyone is dancing, laughing, and having fun.

The carnival happens on Sunday and Monday, but we only went on Sunday which is considered family day. While the majority of the carnival is all about having fun, it does have a reputation for being a little sketchy. There have been five murders since the carnival opened in 1966 and a few years ago, there was a lot of gang violence. This year, a police officer was stabbed, and there were 407 arrests which is the highest number in a decade.

Precautions are taken: shops along the streets board up their windows (which then get decorated with graffiti) and there is a strong police presence on practically every corner. But the majority of the time the police are just there for safety and some even dance along with you. They are not there to cause trouble; only step in if it's getting out of hand. Still, it was weird to be drinking out in public right in front of them!

After about three hours, Aaron, Dan, Shelley and I decided to just find a pub. While the 188th carnival was fun, there are an absurd number of people (about one million people go each year) and the restroom situation isn't ideal. It makes me wonder what Anna Scott did during carnival time of year : )

Now for the important part... did my title intrigue you? What is the only other carnival that beats Notting Hill out for being the largest carnival in the world?

Answer: the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, of course!