Get ready for London’s biggest street party! The annual Notting Hill Carnival sees W10 crackle with Caribbean colours, music and flavours.
This is Europe’s biggest street festival and certainly one of its most colourful. If you’re in London over the last weekend of August, enjoy glorious technicolour parades and the sound of calypso music in London’s W10 area. Join the crowds of spectators lined up for a dazzling parade of elaborately costumed dancers and performers as they wend their way through London’s streets.
The event started as far back as 1964, attended by 500 people. Fast forward to today when it welcomes around 50,000 performers and over a million visitors. It kicks off on the Sunday with Jouvert, a traditional Caribbean carnival opening involving colourful powder paint. The Children’s Parade follows, marking the beginning of the carnival parades. The main parade, a mass of feathers, tassels and sparkling sequins, takes place on Bank Holiday Monday.
Quite apart from the parades, the streets are filled with the upbeat sound of steel bands and the aroma of authentic Caribbean cuisine from no less than 300 food stalls. Our recommendation? Don’t leave without tasting the smoky jerk chicken, rice and peas or Jamaican patties.
The 2023 Notting Hill Carnival is from 27-28 August.