Photos: Caribbean dancers promote first ever digital Notting Hill Carnival

Caribbean soca dancers display their costumes as they promote the first ever digital Notting Hill Carnival, following the cancellation of the normal Carnival festivities due to the continued spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, August 28, 2020.

London: Organizers of Europe's biggest street fair say the event is more important than ever amid the worldwide campaign for justice after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis.

But their message of resistance and reconciliation will be delivered online worldwide this weekend after the COVID-19 pandemic forced London's Notting Hill Carnival to reinvent itself as a virtual event.

The Notting Hill Carnival is a product of the massive influx of Black immigrants who came to Britain from its former colonies to help rebuild the country after World War II.

This year, elements of the event will be prerecorded and streamed to the world on Aug. 29-31, the long weekend that traditionally ends Britain's summer holiday season.

One channel will focus on the parade, including the dancers who normally snake through the streets of Notting Hill wearing colorful headdresses, masks and movable art. Others will stream music, cultural discussions and presentations on food and drink.

This year's themes include the Black Lives Matter movement and a celebration of Britain's National Health Service, which is working to control the pandemic that has hit the Black community harder than others.

Participants hope this year's carnival message will help to make up for the lack of human interaction. They want to convey a story in which passion and protest trump the pain that Floyd's death and the COVID-19 pandemic have brought to the Black community and other minority groups.

Caribbean soca dancers display their costumes as they promote the first ever digital Notting Hill Carnival, following the cancellation of the normal Carnival festivities due to the continued spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, August 28, 2020.

Caribbean soca dancers display their costumes as they promote the first ever digital Notting Hill Carnival, following the cancellation of the normal Carnival festivities due to the continued spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, August 28, 2020.