Bringing the heart of the Caribbean to the streets of West London, the largest street festival is just under a week away. A massive multi-cultural street festival will descend on West London, bringing the streets to life with music, costumes, dancing, floats and festivities. Notting Hill and its surrounding areas will be transformed into the ultimate street party, promising a lively day out for Londoners of all ages. 

Flickr photo by .craig

The Notting Hill Carnival usually gets under way on the Saturday with the steel band competition. Sunday is Kids’ Day, when costume prizes are awarded. On Bank Holiday Monday, the main parade takes place. It generally begins on Great Western Road, then winds its way along Chepstow Road, on to Westbourne Grove, and then Ladbroke Grove. In the evening, the floats leave the streets in procession, and people carry on partying at the many Notting Hill Carnival after parties. The theme for this years carnival is ‘Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Heavenly Virtues’. Expect to see some outlandishly extravagant costumes set to dazzle the streets of London.

Flickr photo by Davide Simonetti

Twenty miles of vibrant colourful costumes surround over 40 static sound systems, hundreds of Caribbean food stalls, over 40,000 volunteers and 1 million carnival revellers. Second only to Rio in its scope, this gives those of you who have never been an idea of the sheer scale of this event.

Flickr photo by Daniel_C_C

Starting at the earlier time of 9am this year, get there early to secure yourself a top spot. What’s your favourite thing about this unique street festival? Leave us a comment here or send us an email.