What is Notting Hill Carnival’s Jab Jab parade?

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that the Jab Jab parade is part of London’s Notting Hill Carnival and takes place at dawn as a masquerade featuring participants in devil horns and motor oil. The piece describes the event as a striking public display that marks the start of the carnival and draws hundreds of people into the streets.

According to the report, the tradition has roots in Grenada, where it is closely associated with cultural memory and performance. Participants told Al Jazeera that preserving the custom matters to them, presenting the parade as more than spectacle: it is also a way of keeping a Caribbean tradition visible in London.

The article frames Jab Jab as one example of how Notting Hill Carnival carries influences from across the African and Caribbean diaspora. It also shows how the event blends celebration, identity and history in a major annual gathering that attracts wide public attention.

More generally, the carnival is one of the best-known street festivals in the UK, and the Jab Jab procession illustrates how specific cultural practices are maintained and adapted by communities abroad. Al Jazeera’s report focuses on the visual ritual and on participants’ emphasis on continuity rather than on any controversy or policy issue.