It’s been a pretty rainy week so far here in West London…but I have no doubt that the sun will start shining come Sunday, just in time for the 2015 Notting Hill Carnival – right?

As the final week of August rolls around once again, it’s time to start preparing for the Notting Hill Carnival which takes this weekend! As ever, the Sunday (30th August) will be Children’s Day whilst the Main Parade will take place on the Monday (31st August). Of course, eager revellers will descend on the area on both days!

Events on each day will start around 10am, with parades finishing by about 7pm and sound systems stopping their music at 8.30pm. However, there’ll be plenty of after-parties in the area’s many bars, pubs and clubs so you’ll have no problem continuing the party until the early hours.

This year, there will be 38 sound systems pumping out the tunes in the Carnival zone, and of course plenty of the usual stalls selling tasty treats (jerk chicken – of course!) and refreshing drinks.

There’s even an official app to accompany the Carnival this year! By and large, its most useful feature is the map which will help you locate particular sound systems, as well as showing your nearby food and drink stalls (although these are everywhere) and toilets (less everywhere, but certainly no less essential!).

Do remember that the Carnival area will be very busy, as always (an estimated 700,000 people attend over the two days, each year) so take care and be aware that certain points in the Carnival zone can get very crowded indeed. Do also plan your route into (and out of) the zone as most of the Underground stations in and around Notting Hill will either be completely shut, or operating special entry/exit/interchange rules. The Transport for London guide to the Carnival is the best place to check for closures, and is also useful to help you plan alternative routes.

Rain or shine, this year’s Carnival will once again establish a proper party atmosphere to the streets of W10 and W11 – with plenty of elaborate, colourful costumes; exciting parades; top music; excellent parties; a festival mood and much more!

Useful links for the 2015 Notting Hill Carnival

• Time Out have – as ever – an excellent guide to the Carnival, with plenty of info about the Carnival itself and a full listing of warm-up and after parties. They also look at the history of the Carnival, and there’s even useful tips on what to wear! It’s also worth picking up a copy of the free Time Out magazine (distributed on Tuesdays) if you can.
• RBKC Council also have a useful guide to the Carnival for local residents (PDF), which details things like road closures, parking restrictions and what happens for the post-Carnival clean-up
• The Notting Hill Carnival website provides information from the Carnival Enterprises Trust
• It’s Notting Hill Carnival Time Again Okay, this is our post from last year – but there’s some useful Carnival-going tips on there that are worth a peruse!

2015 Notting Hill Carnival
Sunday 30th & Monday 31st August 2015