Notting Hill Carnival provides blueprint for a virtual production

 Key to pulling off what Matthew Phillip described as a virtual celebration of Carnival were the partnerships his committee created with digital service providers like YouTube, Spotify, Facebook and Google Arts and Culture

United Kingdom -

With a virtual Carnival celebration among the options under consideration for 2021, the recently-concluded virtual celebration of Notting Hill’s Carnival may provide the blueprint.

Held over the August 29 to 31 bank holiday weekend in the United Kingdom, the virtual affair was three days with mini-documentaries, cook-alongs, interviews with Notting Hill Carnival Pioneers, soca warm-up workouts, Carnival poetry, live DJ sets, pre-recorded performances from artistes in Trinidad, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica and Nigeria, Calypso and Soca Monarch competitions, pan performances from the UK’s top bands, interviews and a look at the mas bands who make up Notting Hill Carnival (NHC).

Filming of the different shows and packages took place over six weeks at the famous Abbey Road Studios, The Royal Albert Hall, Malcolm Ryan Studios, Kennington Studios and Royal Theatre Haymarket.

Apart from the NHC’s website, productions were broadcasted on four YouTube channels—Culture, Parade, Main Stage and Sound Stage—and on Carnival Monday, three channels broadcasted simultaneously, a first for YouTube said Matthew Phillip, Executive Director of the Notting Hill Carnival committee.

Key to pulling off what he described as a virtual celebration of Carnival were the partnerships his committee created with digital service providers like YouTube, Spotify, Facebook and Google Arts and Culture.

Panology, a show featuring the UK's top steelbands was part of the virtual packages

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