Councillors. Sabrina Francis and Nadia Shah attended the unveiling

A BLUE plaque has been attached to the Town Hall building in King’s Cross – celebrating the country’s first Caribbean Carnival.

Guests gathered in the Claudia Jones Room – named in honour of the event’s organiser – ahead of the unveiling on Thursday.

The carnival was held here on January 30, 1959 and was organised at a time of rising racial tensions.

Some say its success inspired the iconic Notting Hill Carnival, held every year in west London.

The Caribbean Carnival was televised by the BBC and featured steel bands, calypso singing, a beauty pageant, a banquet of food and many more Caribbean traditions.

The event on Thursday was attended by artist Linett Kamal, carnival veteran Allyson Williams MBE and Beverley Reviero-Awonaya, the public affairs, culture and tourism officer at the High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.

Camden councillors Sabrina Francis and Nadia Shah also spoke and there was a performance from the Camden Music Service Steel Band and poetry by children of Argyle Primary School.

Cllr Francis said: “This was a truly historic day for Camden – not only are we honouring the UK’s first Caribbean Carnival, but we’re doing so with the first plaque ever unveiled at Camden Town Hall.

“As a person of Caribbean heritage, standing in the Claudia Jones room on this historic day, I feel the pride and energy of that first Carnival all those years ago. I can’t think of a more meaningful way to close this year’s Windrush Day celebrations.”

Claudia Jones

Cllr Nadia Shah added: “This plaque is a powerful reminder that Camden is a place where communities come together to turn adversity into celebration. In the face of darkness, you respond with light – that’s a legacy Camden has carried for generations, and one the world can learn from today.”

Ms Jones is honoured with a blue plaque outside her former home in Lismore Circus, Gospel Oak, where she lived from 1955 to 1964.