A cafe advertises its Brazilian dishes.Credit: Steve McKenna
With hips swaying, Steve McKenna can't shake the city's Latin beat.
TO A fusion of beating drums, rattling maracas and blazing trumpets, the parade comes thundering down the street drowned in all the colours of the rainbow and with a kinetic energy that has the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention.
There are Ecuadorians dressed like Amazonian warriors, Peruvian beauty queens in sparkling feather-clad tiaras, sombrero-wearing Mexicans, hips-and-booty-shaking Colombians, Bolivians in dazzling capes and devilish face masks and, at the back of the line, raunchy, samba-dancing Brazilians.
Although this sensory, adrenalin-fuelled feast wouldn't look out of place in the barrios of Cusco, La Paz or Cartagena, we're actually in sarf (south) London.
A sunny day is threatening to break out from behind the clouds; the backdrop includes a Marks & Spencer store and a timber-framed, mock-Tudor pub; helmet-clad bobbies prowl the beat and there's a sprinkling of iconic white street signs etched with red and black fonts. Amid rapid-fire conversations in Spanish, Portuguese, Aymara and Quechua (indigenous Andean languages), the odd cockney accent can be heard, too.
"Yer whistles; yer whistles; one pawnd yer whistles," grunts a bald, tattooed vendor, bounding past with a tray of tat. As centuries-old Amerindian dances and rituals with Aztec, Mayan and Incan influences are played out in front of us, a grinning teenager in an England football shirt mutters to his girlfriend: "Bloody 'ell. Rarver colourful, ain't it?"
It's the 12th annual Carnaval del Pueblo - Europe's largest outdoor celebration of Latin culture and a kind of Latin American Notting Hill carnival.
I join the thousands of spectators following the parade into Burgess Park, a sprawling green space that fringes the usually unexciting suburbs of Walworth, Peckham and Camberwell.
Here, amid much flag-waving and all-round jollity, musicians and dancers are performing salsa, reggaeton and Latin hip-hop, while vendors sell all manner of traditional South and Central American snacks - lomitos (steak sandwiches), tacos and humitas (mashed sweetcorn and butter cakes) among them.
Cosmopolitan London - an estimated 300 languages are spoken here - is more renowned for its south Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities and, following the expansion of the European Union, its new arrivals from the former Soviet bloc.
Yet government studies suggest there are now almost 1 million Latin Americans living in London (both legally and illegally) - a remarkable number perhaps, considering Britain had few historical and colonial ties with the region.
Although Venezuelan-born revolutionary Simon Bolivar studied in London in the early 19th century, before returning to his homeland to lead wars of independence against Spain, London's first mass wave of Latin Americans arrived in the 1960s and 1970s when Cuban, Chilean, Argentinian, Uruguayan and Brazilian refugees were fleeing political oppression.
The 1980s and 1990s saw Colombian immigrants escaping the drug wars that were devastating their country and, this century, the numbers of Venezuelans, Paraguayans, Peruvians, Bolivians and Ecuadorians have swelled.
Surveys asking why they chose London instead of, say, Madrid or Lisbon - cities with fewer cultural and language barriers to cross - have shown they were attracted to Britain because of its reputation for respect for human rights, superior work prospects and the chance to reunite with relatives.
"When people arrive, it's a little different from what they expect," says Carolina, a Colombian who has come to the Carnaval del Pueblo with her two bilingual young children.
"Some people go home after a few years but most seem to stay," she says. "Apart from the weather, life's not so bad here."
Side orders
The Museum of London has a section on Latin American immigration. 150 London Wall, EC2, museumoflondon.org.uk.
Horniman Museum is home to a collection of impressive pre-Columbian archaeological pieces, discovered across Latin America. 100 London Road, SE23, horniman.ac.uk.
London Latin American Film Festival is an annual showcase of cutting-edge cinema, latinamericanfilmfestival.com.
Carnaval del Pueblo is held in Burgess Park, SE5, usually in August; carnavaldelpueblo.co.uk.
Hot spots
LA BODEGUITA
Go for: Home-made Colombian treats like bandeja paisa, a dish served with rice, pork belly, red kidney beans, minced beef, sausage, fried egg and fried plantain.
Where: Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, SE1. labodeguita.co.uk.
EL VERGEL
Go for: Empanadas (pastries with meat, cheese or veg), churrasco palta (rump steak with avocado and tomato in Chilean village bread) and Latin American fried breakfasts at this Chilean-run hang-out.
Where: 132 Webber Street, SE1. elvergel.co.uk.
BUEN AYRE
Go for: Juicy, chunky bife de chorizos (sirloin steaks) and glasses of Argentinian vino tinto (red wine). Or try the parrillada for two (a platter of steaks, chorizo sausages and black puddings).
Where: 50 Broadway Market, E8. buenayre.co.uk.
EL PUEBLITO PAISA
Go for: Fresh fruit juices, Colombian coffee and bargain almuerzos (set lunches); or browse the Latin American-run stalls selling clothes, beauty products and Brazilian chocolate.
Where: 231-243 High Road, next to Seven Sisters Tube Station, N15. pueblitopaisa.com.
GREEN AND RED
Go for: A mind-blowing blend of tequilas, margarita pitchers and fresh Mexican finger food in chic, yet unpretentious surrounds.
Where: 51 Bethnal Green Road, E1. greenred.co.uk.
PARRILLADAS DEL SUR
Go for: Bolivian favourites like pique a lo macho, a jumble of chips, beef, chicken, salami sausage, tomatoes, onions and peppers, soaked in a creamy beer sauce.
Where: 186-188 Old Kent Road, SE1. + 44 20 7701 2367.
TITO'S
Go for: Ceviche (a concoction of raw cod marinated in lemon juice, onions and spices) or arroz con mariscos (a paella-like seafood in rice dish). Wash them down with Peru's national cocktail, pisco sour.
Where: 4 London Bridge Street, SE1. titoseateries.com.
GUANABARA
Go for: Brazilian culture; move to groovy samba beats, sip caipirinha and try feijoada, the famous sausages, pork and beef casserole with rice and black beans.
Where: Parker Street, corner of Drury Lane, WC2. guanabara.co.uk.
FLORIDITA
Go for: A taste of Havana; contemporary and traditional Cuban music, cocktails, exclusive cigars and a spicy blend of Cuban and Latin American cuisine.
Where: 100 Wardour Street, W1. floridita.co.uk/london.
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.