Maya Jama declared Notting Hill Carnival the “best day ever” as the annual celebration took over west London over the bank holiday weekend.
The Love Island presenter, who hails from Bristol but has lived in London for 14 years, shared a series of videos to her Instagram Stories on Monday (31 August) as she partied it up during the third and final day of Carnival.
In one clip, Jama, 32, filmed herself grinning from ear to ear as she danced and sang along with the music blaring in the streets.
The TV personality – who recently split from footballer Ruben Dias – was dressed in a sand-coloured jacket, navy baseball cap and black sunglasses, and clutched a bottle of ginger ale in her hand.
The other festival-goers behind Jama could be seen waving at the camera, while other clips showed a different group of attendees making hand-hearts at Jama and some of the security guards dancing too as she filmed them.
While resharing a clip of herself dancing atop a float, Jama wrote that she was in her “element” as she joked that her dance moves “will forever give uncle”.
Born out of resistance to racial injustices, Notting Hill Carnival is a celebration of Caribbean and minority cultures that has grown to become Europe’s largest street party.
Despite the rain, millions of revellers flocked to W10 for “a weekend of pure joy and celebration”. Jama attended on Monday’s “Adults Day”, which saw dancers, drummers and DJs fill the streets of west London for its main event.
Performers dressed in bejewelled bikini-style costumes, towering feathered backpieces and elaborate headdresses adorned with sequins and beads made up a sea of colour, with masqueraders dancing their way along the parade route to the thunder of drums, while sound systems kept crowds moving throughout the day.
More than 550 people were arrested over the weekend, and one man died after entering a canal close to Carnival while being pursued by police.
Despite the tragedy, police described the event as “overwhelmingly positive and celebratory” and said that the weekend passed “largely without incident”, particularly noting a marked decrease in serious violence compared with previous years.
