NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL

The Carnival here is about to come to an end and if you miss it, don't worry! You can go to Notting Hill Carnival in Ausgust!

It's true. If you are in London at the end of this month you can have a wonderful time looking at the parades through the streets of this area in the capital city of the UK.

It usually kicks off on Saturday evening and keeps going until Monday night. Sunday is seen as the more family-friendly day.

On Saturday evening there is usually a a steel-pan band music competition on Bosworth Road, where street food vendors will also be trying to entice attendees with all sorts of Caribbean cuisine.

Sunday’s main celebrations begin at 10am. There is a street parade where  youngsters in vivid costumes weave their way through the streets of Notting Hill. Music plays throughout the day, too. the family day is less busy and chaotic than Monday’s festivities.  However, be prepared to tackle significant crowds and queues for toilets, food stalls and so on.

On  Monday things get lively on the final day of the festival when the main parade takes place. Expect a spectacular procession featuring innumerable community groups, clubs and some 60 bands, all  energetic and dressed in costumes.

Away from the procession, over 30 sound systems scattered throughout Notting Hill will broadcast diverse genres of music and performances.

Again there’ll be plenty of food stalls and other diversions scattered around – and even more people to contend with. The procession often begins at 8am and things draw to a close at 8.30pm.

The carnival is free to attend (except for Friday's steel-pan band competition).