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A man who is determined to draw attention to Notting Hill carnival and the 275 arrests made over the weekend, has seemingly chosen to ignore the arrest rate at Reading Festival, which was three times higher.
With 37 arrests for 100,000 people at Reading, and about 13 arrests per 100,000 at the Notting Hill Carnival, arrest numbers alone would suggest Reading Festival saw worse behaviour. This might not paint a full picture of either event, but arrests are the only picture that some people prefer to paint.
However, Derek Matthews, 46, insisted that Notting Hill Carnival was definitely worse, telling us, “Notting Hill Carnival is the thing you should be focussing on, because of reasons.
“There were only 37 arrests at Reading, compared to 275 in Notting Hill, so it was clearly the worse event for law-breaking. I am choosing to ignore that about twenty times the number of people attended Carnival compared to the Reading Festival, and I’m ignoring that, once again, for reasons.
“I don’t have to explain my thinking, I just think it’s important to focus heavily on the crime that happens at a largely black carnival, and less on the crime that happens at a music festival where a lot of the people look like me.”
Meanwhile, Notting Hill Carnival attendee Simon Williams, told us, “I’ve never been to Carnival, but I only live about ten miles away, so I’d thought I’d give it a go this year. And yes, it’s noisy and rowdy and colourful and vibrant and brilliant. I loved it.
“And in the interests of balance, I compare that to my experience of Glastonbury in 2008, when someone stole an entire crate of beer from my tent while I was watching Massive Attack.”
