Whether you intend to travel to West London for the Notting Hill Carnival street festival, with the expected attendance of over a million people or simply plan on having a nice, relaxing holiday at home, sky lanterns are a perfect complement to either way you may spend this bank holiday. If you go to the street festival, there are places where an evening launch of floating lanterns can be done in a safe manner and if you are at home, you can launch them during the day or evening to spectacular results as well. With NightSkyLantern.co.uk’s lanterns, you get the best quality, environmentally responsible lanterns available for the best prices in the country. Whether you launch responsibly near the Notting Hill Carnival or from home, you find that those around you will appreciate the beauty of the floating lanterns catching a light breeze and drifting up towards the heavens and, potentially, far away.

The Notting Hill Carnival on the Summer Bank Holiday is an adult’s only affair, with the family friendly version actually occurring on Sunday. Expect large crowds of people as well as a festive parade that is truly global in its scope. With a focus on bringing a Caribbean style carnival to London, each year the Notting Hill Carnival becomes one great big party. While the Caribbean roots, especially Trinidad, are dark, there is nothing dark about this festival. It is big, bold and brightly coloured and is the oldest street festival in Europe, starting in 1964 and running continuously since 1966. Celebrate from outside the area with sky lanterns and avoid the crowds but still enjoy the atmosphere that makes up this festival.

If you do decide to dive into this Carnival, be prepared for a sensory explosion. Visually, the parade costumes are simply stunning as your ears are hit with many different styles of Caribbean music. From Calypso and Steel Pan music as part of the parade to Reggea and more being pumped through static sound systems all around the Notting Hill area, the historical music and the styles that have been generated from it are all represented. On top of this, your sense of smell and taste will be ignited by the food stalls, selling all varieties of Caribbean food.

If you opt to skip the Carnival because of crowds or simply because you have had your fill of festivals for the summer, bringing a little of the carnival magic home with sky lanterns is a tranquil way to spend your Summer Bank Holiday. Whether you choose to decorate your traditional sky lanterns with colour and flair fit for the Carnival or you choose to simply send up these delicate Chinese Hanging Lanterns filled with hope for a short work week that goes by quickly, there is no end to the possibilities when using sky lanterns.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 7:42 AM and is filed under General News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.