Friday, August 28, 2009

 

Past memories of the Carnival

In addition to yesterday's Carnival post, today's Evening Standard has its own guide to the 2009 Notting Hill Carnival.

They also feature memories of past Carnivals from an assortment of regulars, including musician Don Letts and DJ Norman Jay.

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

 

Get ready for the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend!

As I'm sure everyone knows, it's the August Bank Holiday weekend this weekend which means only one thing - the Notting Hill Carnival! Taking place on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st August, a proper festive atmosphere descends on Notting Hill as colourful parade costumes, elaborate floats, traditional calypso music and some crazy dancing.

Not forgetting the rum cocktails, jerk chicken, Red Stripe, booming soundsystems and crazy parties, of course!

The Metro newspaper uncovers the best Carnival bars for the Carnival (though I feel they just seem to be a general assortment of bars in Notting Hill) as well as the best Carnival club nights which is a little more Carnival-themed.

Spoonfed has a very useful Carnival guide which includes some top tips (I agree with all of them!), and a guide to the various soundsystems and some of the after-parties, as well as a "highlights" map.

Time Out has a great guide to the Carnival, though it's probably better to pick up a copy of this week's magazine for a more extensive guide. They have a great Carnival map, though. (PDF format)

There's also general info from NottingHillCarnival.com.

Finally, check Transport for London's Notting Hill Carnival page (including their useful leaflet) for details of how to get to the area. Note that some Underground stations in Notting Hill may have special restrictions in place during this weekend. (And will - understandably - be very busy!)

My advice? Plan where you want to be and what you want to watch/listen to before you get there - otherwise you'll probably just get lost in the crowds. Be prepared for there to be huge crowds, so consider going to a bar/pub/quiet part to chill a little. (Or join someone's party, if you know of any). Be also prepared to get deafened by lots of whistles in constant use (or join them and purchase a whistle yourself). Try the food from one of the many stalls. And lastly, have a good time!

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The Tabernacle on Powis Square reopens

The Independent recently featured an article about the famous Tabernacle venue on Powis Square, W11 that has been a very important part of Notting Hill over the years, but unfortunately fell into a certain amount of disrepair in recent times.

A former Church, the venue has recently undergone a £1 million refurbishment and has now fully reopened - just in time for the Carnival and other upcoming events.

Hoping to be a cental hub for the local community, various dance and music events are already scheduled, and there's also a restaurant and bars there so you can enjoy it at any time.


See http://www.carnivalvillage.org.uk/ for full listings and details.

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Monday, August 24, 2009

 

Where to lunch on Portobello Road

What with all the palaver on this site at the end of last week (see below), I couldn't bring you this interesting article. Last Thursday's Evening Standard had a brief segment on where to lunch on Portobello Road, and they present a fine selection of various cuisines. As partial as I am to Mexican food (I'm crazy for it!), I know I'll be down to El Camino again and again!

Article: Where to eat lunch on Portobello Road (20th August 2009, The Evening Standard)

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Apologies for London Notting Hill website problems

Anyone that may have visited the London Notting Hill website or blog last week may have noticed it looking slightly strange...and may also have been warned rather ominously by Google that "this site may harm your computer".


What actually happened was that a few files within the London Notting Hill website were infected with a virus, and after some rather furious scanning, re-scanning, uploading and re-uploading last Friday - followed by careful monitoring over the weekend - the bad critters are gone and the website and blog are back up and running again...all clean.


I've been running various websites for 11 years now, and it's the first time that this has happened to any of my sites. I apologise for any problems this may have caused anyone, and I stick two fingers up at hackers. (Seriously, get a real job.)

But here's an amusingly lolcat from I Can Has Cheezburger to calm everyone (i.e. me) down:

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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

 

Cath Kidston customer event tomorrow!

As mentioned last week, a brand new Cath Kidston store opens today on Portobello Road. To celebrate the opening, a customer event will be held tomorrow (Thursday, 13th August) - for those that pop down, you're in with a chance of getting a free posy print eco bag and a limited edition Cath Kidston 'We love Portobello' badge if you spend over £40. (Whilst stocks last.) I know many of you were going to head to the new shop, and now there's even more reason to do so!

The new Cath Kidston store is at 158 Portobello Road, W11 2BE.

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Friday, August 7, 2009

 

New Cath Kidston store on Portobello Road

A new Cath Kidston store will arrive in Portobello Road next week, which is sure to excite many of the brand's devoted followers.

On Wednesday, 12th August 2009, the latest London store will open at 158 Portobello Road, W11 2BE and will stock the usual delightful homewares, accessories and clothing from the pretty range.



Floral tent from the Cath Kidston range

Meanwhile, the store at 8 Clarendon Cross, W11 is to sadly close in October this year. After 16 very successful years at the location (the very first Cath Kidston shop), at least locals won't have very far to go to carry on their shopping at the new store!

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

 

Very early start for 2009 Notting Hill Carnival

As reported previously, this year's Notting Hill Carnival - just over three weeks away - will have earlier start and finish times than usual, to try and avoid the street trouble that marred the end of last year's event.

The Carnival parade will now start at the rather eye-wateringly early time of 9am to ensure that it finishes by 6.30pm. This is all in the hope that crowds will have dispersed by nightfall, and so no trouble can occur.

Whilst it's of course a good idea to try and prevent the violence which unfortunately sometimes happens at this great London even, I'm not entirely sure a 9am start will be welcomed by many revellers. Don't forget, it's a Bank Holiday weekend (i.e. the Monday is a public holiday in the UK), so I can't imagine that many people will be around that early!

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