'Rave with Rennie' at Notting Hill Carnival*

Despite having grown up in London, I had never, ever visited Notting Hill Carnival before. It's not that I ever didn't want to go (in fact, quite the opposite), but I was always either working or away during the bank holiday weekend when it's held. However, this year, for the first time I dragged myself along to the west end of London on the bank holiday Monday (a few hours after landing in Luton from a weekend in Amsterdam, I'll have you know) and experienced the carnival in all its glory for the first time ever!

Granted, I was absolutely exhausted after an early morning flight and a long weekend drinking in the Dutch capital but we still had an absolutely incredible time roaming the streets in the sunshine! We were incredibly lucky that the sun actually decided to show its face for August bank holiday as the weather is usually notoriously bad, but not this year - hurrah!

Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event that has been celebrated since the 60s and attracts around two million people every single year. It's a celebration of the capital's Caribbean communities, focused on their culture and traditions. The streets of W10 come absolutely alive during carnival as they're filled with people dancing, drinking and eating. There are static sound systems and stages blasting out music around the streets whilst crowds gather in front dancing and partying the day away into the late evening. NHC also hosts its own parade, which weaves its way throughout the streets as a sea of colour and music, but unfortunately we arrived a little too late to catch it in action.

My favourite part of the day (and my favourite part of most days in general) was the incredible Caribbean food that was on offer around the carnival. Initially I was worried about the amount of vegetarian options there would be as NHC is well known for its famous jerk chicken, but I had no need to worry as there were plenty of stalls offering up plenty of veggie options. There are literally stalls upon stalls of street food to choose from (including vegan pancakes - HELLO!), but I ended up opting for an uhhh-mazing vegetable curry with traditional rice and peas, plus a helping of coleslaw. Although, it was absolutely delicious and I have no regrets whatsoever in my decision to inhale it in under five minutes, the indulgent spicy feast did lead to a bit of an uncomfortable stomach. Luckily, having a packet of Rennie to hand in my bag eased my uncomfortable bloating or trapped wind, which meant I could carry on drinking and dancing uninterrupted. If you're ever at a festival or party, sometimes you can't pre-plan what you'll be eating and it can cause an upset tummy, which can totally dampen your experience. A packet of Rennie is now one of my top festival essentials, so I can continue to eat as much delicious food in between partying as possible.

Although my first Notting Hill Carnival experience was brief due to our exhaustion, it was wonderful and the atmosphere was electric! I've already decided that if I'm not on holiday over next year's bank holiday, I'll be dedicating my entire weekend to Notting Hill Carnival!

Have you been to Notting Hill Carnival before?

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Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Rennie, but all words and opinions are my own.