5 Ways To Celebrate Notting Hill Carnival This Weekend
Notting Hill Carnival returns this weekend and for its 60th anniversary, expect a celebration like no other. Across three days, Notting Hill will be taken over by live performances, vibrant parades, ruffled feathers and big crowds. Here’s everything you need to know about the event, from the history of the Carnival to the best pop-ups taking place.
The history
What started as an intimate community children’s street fair celebrating Caribbean culture has since transformed into the Notting Hill Carnival we know and love today.
The first Carnival experience took place in 1959 at St Pancras Town Hall in response to the 1958 Race Riots in Notting Hill. It later officially began in 1966, and it’s since grown significantly, increasingly in popularity with over a million visitors celebrating each August Bank Holiday. Nowadays it’s packed with live performances, parades, music and more.
What started as an intimate community children’s street fair celebrating Caribbean culture has since transformed into the Notting Hill Carnival we know and love today.
The dates
Taking place every August Bank Holiday, the Carnival is packed out with brilliant foodie vendors, mega sound systems, live performances, mesmerising floats and an array of fluttering feathers.
This year’s Notting Hill Carnival will be taking place from Saturday, 29th August – Monday, 31st August 2027, with celebrations running throughout the weekend.
Date: 29/08/2026 – 31/08/2026
The line-up
Saturday 29th August
While the main parade takes place on Monday, there are festivities right through the weekend, starting as they always do on Saturday with Panorama, the UK’s biggest steel pan competition. This one is friendly for all the family, so get yourself in the spirit early by heading along.
Sunday 30th August
Sunday is the dedicated family day, so expect lots of events geared towards children and the younger generation. J’Ouvert, a traditional festival known as “break day”, acts as the unofficial start of Carnival and kicks off just before sunrise. Throughout the day, there will be street dancing, sound systems and live stage entertainment from Pleasance Park and Powis Square.
Monday 31st August
Sunday sees the Adults Day Parade take centre stage. Free to all, it kicks off at 10:30am from near Westbourne Grove tube station, and, as ever, will feature lots of dancing, parading and partying. There will also be more street dancing, food, sound systems and live events.
Are you planning on attending Notting Hill Carnival this year?
5 things to do during the carnival
1. Eat your way through the food stalls
Dancing all day is hungry work, and luckily, you won’t have to look far for some delicious food stalls – there are hundreds of them.
Expect lots of traditional food, including Jamaican Jerk chicken, Trinidadian roti and Guyanese pepper pot. For those looking to explore Caribbean food in the city beyond Carnival, check out our guide here.
Expect lots of traditional food including Jamaican Jerk chicken, Trinidadian roti and Guyanese pepper pot.
2. Get paint-covered at J’Ouvert & Sunday’s “Dutty Mas”
Dutty Mas is where things get gloriously messy during Sunday morning’s parade. Revellers cover themselves in colourful paint, mud, melted chocolate, and bright powder while dancing down the street.
It is all about throwing out your inhibitions, ruining a cheap set of clothes, and soaking in pure carnival energy. You will definitely leave completely unrecognisable, but that is half the fun.
3. Attend this after-party
Deep and soulful house pace-setters Makin’ Moves will make their return to their favourite West London basement spot to close out Carnival.
Residents Matt L-S and Jamesey drop deep and soulful house alongside DJ Dubois fusing Afro-house sounds and guest DJ Tre Hunter. Running from 4 PM until 2 AM, advanced tickets start at £8 via RA and DICE.
Where: Notting Hill Arts Club
Book here
4. Join the Westside Runnas pre-carnival run
This run club is hosting a free, novice-friendly pre-Carnival jog through West London running from 7:30pm to 9pm.
The conversational-pace route takes runners into Ladbroke Grove to watch steel pan bands practising for the Panorama competition, taking in a local Blue Plaque tour and visiting the UK’s oldest pan yard along the way. Free registration is available via Eventbrite.
Where: Starts outside Itsu, Notting Hill Gate (100 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3QA)
Book here
5. Check out this must-visit stage
Making its official debut as a major partner stage, Jamaican staple MAGNUM Tonic Wine is set to take over one of Carnival’s focal points.
Running from 12pm to 7pm on both Sunday and Monday, the live stage brings heavy-hitting Jamaican dancehall, soca, and surprise guest artist showcases right into the heart of the static sound system area.
Making its official debut as a major partner stage, Jamaican staple MAGNUM Tonic Wine is set to take over one of Carnival’s focal points.
