OCTOBER | COVER FEATURE
THE MAN BEHIND
THE MAGIC
Access catches up Notting Hill Carnival's executive
director Matthew Phillip to talk tradition, branding and
young talent
HOW IS THE TEAM BEHIND AT NOTTING HILL SET UP?
There's a group of companies that form the festival, but no one is
full time, we all have other jobs, but there's seven people. Come
August, it becomes a community-led setup, based in a community
focused building that sees all walks of life coming through it. This
is fitting and in tune with what carnival was set up for in the first
place.
We have various partners in the Council, and our team works
with Police, holding monthly meetings that never stop, then after
the event we hold a de-briefing, then it's back to the planning again,
which involves everything from deciding on anything from the
location of the toilets to the placement of stalls, and working with
vehicle entry, the Police, Ambulance, carnivalists, bands and sound
systems. It's a huge event, but it's also more than 150 little events
linking together.
so as organisers we don't want to control too much. We want to
encourage and promote artistry, new costumes, stories, and you
can't put too many controls on that. We support the true artists
and our role is to organise and manage it and make it easy for them
to get involved.
WHAT SORTS OF CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE TO MAKE THE
EVENT MORE ACCESSIBLE? TRAVEL AND LOGISTICS-WISE.
A lot of the logistical elements, stations and bus stops, are
already there, but we work to increase awareness. We produced an
all new booklet this year that gives plans of the site, a schedule and
details of any closures. We also have a dedicated app produced by
Second Screen.
We make a lot of use of social media now, and give info to people
on a variety of issues – from where the disabled toilets are to where
the vegan stalls are. The app is a great way to do that as well and it
makes the whole event a lot more accessible.
HOW DO YOU ATTRACT BIG BRAND INVOLVEMENT AND WHAT
SORTS OF GUIDELINES DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT BEING TOO
COMMERCIAL?
THE EVENT HAS MODERNISED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE LAST
FEW YEARS, WITH APPS, ETC. WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MAJOR
UPDATES TO THE EVENT FROM A VISITOR PERSPECTIVE AND
WHAT PROMPTED THEM?
Having increased our technological innovations, and digital
presence on social media means we can share the story of our
community with a wider audience. It's often misunderstood,
so this is a great chance to convey how unique this event is. It's
not just a party, there's a great magnitude behind this event and
the stories behind it. It had been difficult before, but social media
has been a great help in giving us a direct way that we can talk
to the public. We've also changed how the media looks at us, and
we're very pleased the event's role is finally recognised in bringing
community cohesion.
Notting Hill has been influenced by the Caribbean carnivals
from Trinidad since its inception, but it’s now a very different
event that has grown organically through the input of many people
over the years. This sense of freedom is also what has shaped it,
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PICTURED: MATTHEW PHILLIP