Coronavirus: Notting Hill Carnival to be held online

This year's carnival festivities will be streamed over four channels online

Notting Hill Carnival will be held online this year after its street party was cancelled due to the pandemic.

About one million revellers usually attend the event in west London, which has been held since 1966.

But this year the carnival festivities will be streamed over four channels online, from 29 to 31 August.

Executive director Matthew Phillip said the event had a "responsibility to protect the black community".

"Carnival is such an important part of people's lives and key celebration of the multiculturalism of the UK," he added.

"We have a responsibility to our community and pioneers to honour that."

The event normally attracts more than one million people to the streets of west London

The event is held in Notting Hill, Westbourne Park and parts of Kensington.

But in May the carnival became the latest in a string of summer calendar events to have been postponed, including the Glastonbury Festival and the Tokyo Olympics. due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It meant that this year's music and performances had to be filmed so the event could be held virtually.

Spotify will dedicate a microsite highlighting the importance of carnival culture in the UK later in August, organisers said.

Music and performances have been recorded in studios and will be streamed over the Bank Holiday weekend