They Can't Close Down Carnival

There was no way I was going to miss St Paul's Carnival this year.

Bristol is my favourite city in the world and St Paul’s Carnival is by far my favourite time to be back around. So as you might imagine I was in my element there yesterday, especially after foolishly missing last year’s festivities.

I had made the mistake of accepting the official SPC statement that the 2025 Carnival wouldn’t be happening. Then after seeing videos online of streets packed with people and sound systems I had major FOMO. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

I have every respect for the committee in charge of organising the Carnival. They have a tough job and are woefully underfunded to deliver the event as responsibly as they are required to, so when they announced that there would not be an official Carnival again this year, I understood.

But it was never going to stop Carnival from going ahead anyway. Of course the mas parade was missed. I’ve played on the floats a couple of times and it’s a great part of the day usually. I’ve also seen some great acts on the official main stages, such as Frankie Paul and Macka B (I also programmed acts for their online event during covid). But for most attendees the main focus is the sound systems, the food stalls, the atmosphere and of course the people. All of those were very much still happening.

Yesterday I heard the phrase “the People’s Carnival” on a number of occasions. It showed the tension that exists when the community feels overly regulated and it highlights the fact that all good carnivals are laced with a rebellious spirit, carrying the strength of unity at their heart. It’s no wonder Carnivals all over the world increasingly feel sanitised and commercialised but St Paul’s have always resisted that. Yesterday even more so and you could feel that energy in the air.

The police presence was relatively moderate and hands off. They obviously recognise that the wrong approach could spark a response too big for them to handle. To be honest though I didn’t see one scrap of trouble all day and I haven’t heard of any incidents since.

I headed down just after midday with Fernquest after picking him up from Newport. He was supposed to be MCing on Brute Force Audio’s 45K sound system but along with a few other rigs they’d been shut down early. Thankfully they were a small minority and as we got to the edge of St Paul’s we could hear and feel the collision of a few dozen sound systems at full volume. Some might find that kind of loud chaotic noise intense but we both felt instantly at home as waves of nostalgia hit me along with the smell of the smoke from the jerk chicken stalls.

I’ve mentioned before on here but my very earliest memory is the sounds and smells of Notting Hill Carnival so perhaps that’s why I get such a sense of belonging in these spaces. Add to that the many great memories of previous years here and the fact that I’ve been missing Bristol a lot recently and you can understand why it felt like coming home for Christmas. I’ve spent around 13 years of my life living in the city and it’s a big part of my history and identity.

So it was a pleasure to walk around and see that Bristol was out in force. Of course you had the St Pauls’ community, rooted heavily in the Windrush generation of Caribbean people who settled in the area between the late 1940s and early 70s. But then you also had a wide representation of underground and alternative cultures from across the city. Generations ago you might have been able to define them as new (and some original) travellers, hippies, bohemians, punks, ravers, rastas, rudeboys and rudegirls, but nowadays all the lines are blurred and nobody’s policing the boundaries.

The music was as varied as the people and as we walked the streets we heard: heavy dub; old school lovers rock, dancehall and roots; amapiano and afro house; modern bashment; UK funky; UK garage; jungle and drum n bass; acid techno; hardcore tekno; soca and more. The Carnival committee had advised everyone to put in Temporary Event Notices (TENS) for their sound systems and pop up bars. Not all of them were successful but a few had taken their chances anyway.

Our first proper stop was in a garden behind Jerk King, where Out The Box had set up a rig and Dave Cridge was playing a mixture of old skool hardcore and jungle, with a number of modern dnb remixes of the two. It was just the kick start we needed and although I’m tee-total these days we set off to find Fernquest some Wray & Nephews. Always a solid choice for these occasions but sadly way over priced with the “Carnival price” increases.

I get adding on a little. In tough times it’s a chance for residents to make a quick raise. Hell we even saw a fox out in the blazing afternoon sun, trying to get a little extra from the influx of visitors. However £22 for a pocket sized bottle of rum is too much.

The fruitless quest to find a better price did take us down side streets we might have missed otherwise. We caught two kids around 8 or 9 years old playing some serious dub. Turns out one was the daughter of Sam Stryda from Dubkasm and Teachings in Dub, whilst the other was the son of the sound system’s owner. They both knew exactly what they were doing and had great taste in tunes. We stayed there for a little while and saw Ray Keith walk into the house next door, but we didn’t manage to find out where or when he was playing.

I missed a lot of great artists who were down for the day. I bumped into Brixton reggae singer Shumba Youth who told me that Prince Fatty was on somewhere. I know Rampage were playing too. They were always my favourites at Notting Hill as a teenager. In fact I couldn’t tell you who half of the DJs and MCs we did see were.

We definitely caught Guire from local reggae band The Golden Guild. He was hosting a jungle set from a DJ called Heavy D, and was joined on the mic by a clean cut white kid who’s name I didn’t catch, but who had a similar conscious roots reggae flow. We heard Docta Flex dropping some Carnival classics and also passed through Crazy and Rising Son’s hip hop set.

My favourite spot was over at Jonesy Wales and Stormy J’s house where we danced to Dub Boy, Rukus and a couple of other amazing DJs who’s names I didn’t manage to catch. The music policy there was globally minded, with plenty of dancehall and soca still but also chutney, classic reggaeton and shatta in there as well. Jus Now played there, with Keshav fresh off the plane from Trinidad to spend festival season in the UK.

It was a good place to hang out as the music was perfect for me, but it was also tucked down a small side street so it wasn’t anywhere near as hectic as the other sounds. I still managed to bump into a ton of people there that I know from Bristol and Cardiff.

There was: my old house (and band) mate Tom Swindell, now best known for his filmmaking; Tommy Popcorn and Gemsski from Ujima Radio; the alternative Cardiff rap duo Skyn; Charlie Stoic from Terrain; Bristol graffiti pioneer Inkie and his partner Vicki who programmes stages at Boomtown and WOMAD, as well as various venues in Bristol; Atki2 - super producer and DJ plus another of my Super Soca Show family; Coreysan, the Bristol based Trinidadian who as well as producing his own music, plays bass for the legendary Calypso Rose; Carly Heath who has just stepped down as Bristol’s Night Time Economy Advisor but remains active and important in the scene; Tom Gutteridge from Bermuda. I’m not sure what Tom’s up to these days to be honest. I didn’t get enough of a chance to chat to him properly but my point here is that in a very small corner of Carnival I bumped into so many inspiring and creative people that it’s no wonder the place fills my soul.

I lost Fernquest thanks to the lack of phone signal there, but thankfully he made it home safely with Mace The Great. I grabbed some Jerk Jackfruit and watched a little bit of Milo at the Star & Garter. One of the original Wild Bunch members, Milo is a great DJ and had his own fascinating adventures when the others went off to form Massive Attack.

I left St Paul’s around 8pm and finished the night at The Plough pub in Easton watching a secret reunion gig from one of my all time favourite bands. But I’ll tell you all about that next time.

Shout out to everyone else I saw throughout the day. Too many to mention but I will give a nod to Elro, ManLikeVision and Vibe Chemistry who were down there filming some promo for their new tune that came out this week. If you don’t mind your raps a little x-rated then have a listen.