Notting Hill Carnival: Beginners' Guide

Notting Hill Carnival: Beginners' Guide

28 August, 2009
by: Spoonfed Festivals

OK, so as you may possibly have noticed, we are HYPED for the Notting Hill Carnival which runs this Sunday and Monday. We've got our most lurid clothes, juiced up our mobile batteries, and set aside about thirty quid for food and beer purchases. You don't want to spend an hour queuing at a cash machine, Carnival Virgins, arrive with your cash ready and a rucksack full of water...

Which segues nicely into today's theme. We've noticed from the chatter on the web that there are lots and lots of Carnival newbies planning to head down. You're in for a treat! But there's some common queries you might want answered.

Sunday vs Monday?

Sunday is Family Day. This doesn't imply that it's in any way staid or dull, or that Monday is the day for all out warfare. Both days are busy, packed with floats and see every major soundsystem in operation. Sundays will feature some kiddie-specific face painting and play areas around Powis Square, but apart from that both days are child-friendly. We say – go twice.

Basics

We've covered this already in our Survival Guide, and you could do worse than reading our Carnival Q&A page or The Buzz guide from musicians scheduled to perform. However, there are three things that you need which are hard to come by once you're actually in the party: cash, a little wodge of loo roll and bottled water. Beer is plentiful, if expensive. We're pleased to say that this year, it looks like you'll need suncream rather than anoraks. Yay!

Oh - and charge your phone up.

Where to go

If you're new to Carnival, you should definitely follow the floats for a while. Dub, reggae and dancehall sounds are all around. Other than that, the easiest rule of thumb is that the party gets wilder, and more dance-music focused the further north you head inside the Carnival. There are many traditional white-label reggae systems like Channel One south of the Westway, and Gaz's Rockin Blues is a hugely popular, laid-back system with an emphasis on live bands and retro ska. Further north things get hectic with Rampage playing urban bangers, Sancho Panza blasting house and Norman Jay helming the wildest jump-up of all at Good Times. Under the Westway, is this year (and most years') locale for the coolest party – Major Lazers.

Safety

Carnival is a safe and welcoming environment with very rare outbreaks of trouble, usually after night falls. Best advice if you have children or are concerned in any way about safety, is to leave at 6pm. Crushing, which used to be a very real concern at Carnival, has basically been eradicated by crowd control barriers. This means a bit more waiting around, but it's made the whole experience a lot safer and more relaxing.

Have fun!


Notting Hilll Carnival Q&As
Notting Hilll Carnival After Parties
Gaz Mayall Interview
Norman Jay Interview
Notting Hill Carnival: The Buzz with DJ Tayo, Big Chuck Reed & Co.
Click to view all pre- and after- Carnival parties
Click here for all London Live Music.

Spoonfed Festivals