Notting Hill Carnival

London’s biggest street party of the year kicksoff this weekend, 25-27 August, with the Notting Hill Carnival attracting anything between 1-2 million people to the streets of west London.

The Carnival has its origins in the late 1950s when immigrants from the Caribbean settled in the Notting Hill area. From its humble start the Carnival has been held every year since 1965 and numbers attending have grown dramatically over the years.

This year’s event starts on Saturday evening with a steel band competition taking place in Hyde Park from 4pm-9pm. On Sunday Children’s Day sees the first of the two parades that are central to Carnival when thousands of kids in costume will take to the route from Westbourne Park to Westbourne Grove and up Labroke Grove. The days activities last from 11am-7pm.

On Monday the main carnival parade takes place featuring around 50,000 participants and 16 steel bands. All the while over 40 sound systems, some attracting up to 10,000 people to the streets around the parade, will have DJs playing Reggae, Roots, Soca, RnB, House, Hip Hop, Garage, Rap, Funk, Soul, Salsa, Drum n Bass and more. Carnival on Monday last from 11am-9pm with the sound systems shutting down at 7pm.

The nearest Tubes to the Carnival route are Ladbroke Grove, Royal Oak, Bayswater and Queensway but these will be extremely busy so it might be better to be prepared to walk from a little further away. Don’t take any valuables if you can help it, the crush of the crowd will be pickpocketing heaven, and the Carnival has had a reputation over the years for attracting muggers and gangs intent on robery so be aware of your surroundings and stay with your friends.

The weather is predicted to be sunny with temperatures 24C/75F. Below is a map of the parade route.