AKIPRESS.COM - Almost 50 years ago, on August 28, 1966 the Notting Hill Carnival was first brought to Britain's capital. Since then it has become the largest annual carnival in Europe. This year, the Notting Hill Carnival was held in London despite the rain. Latin music filled the streets as hundreds of people in costumes poured out to celebrate, RIA Novosti reports.

The Notting Hill Carnival is so big it can easily be compared to the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival or the carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1950, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Notting Hill was populated mostly by emigrants from Trinidad and Tobago. The carnival was initially organized by London's Afro-Caribbean community as a response to the depressing conditions the immigrants were facing in Britain.

This year, the carnival featured 75 fancy-dress groups that each had a unique name. For example, Back From Space, Creatures Of The Earth, etc.

The event is usually organized in the last weekend of summer and runs until Monday evening. This year, despite the rain, the carnival attracted over one million people.

Despite the festive atmosphere, the police arrested 165 people, including 54 for drug abuse and 22 for bearing weapons.