After the stunning spectacle of costumes, flung food and projectile paint at Sunday's carnival, the second half of this year's Notting Hill Carnival had much to live up to. Carnivalistas were again out in force despite the so-so weather and the enforced curfew.
As the pictures show, Adults' Day (in contrast to Sunday's Children's Day) was again a fantastic experience for the eyes, ears and tongues. The neighbours might not all be fans but no-one could deny the effort that had gone into the event by the organisers and the participants and the imagination on view as brilliant costume followed brilliant costume.
With around 6,500 police on duty, a total of 16,000 stationed throughout the capital and last week's preemptive crackdown, crime was kept to a minimum. Even so, there was a stabbing in broad daylight and arrests soon after.
After one of the capital's toughest months in living memory, the carnival gave Londoners back a large measure of faith in the power of humanity to come together and brighten any day.
Photos (c) belkus, Carolus Darwin, fabiolug, frenchconnector, jonnyfromtheblock and kenchie from the Londonist Flickr pool plus Irish4Photography.
Notting Hill Carnival: there was an app for that.
