Carnival Dos and Don'ts

Planning to head to Notting Hill for a spot of Carnival excitement? You may want to follow our (sort of) helpful advice on making the most of the weekend…

DO arrive early, especially for the main festivities on Monday. Around 1.3 million people squeezed themselves into Notting Hill sardine-style for the 2002 event, and with as many party-loving folk expected this year, you may want to arrive before the midday start time to bag yourself a place on the parade route.

DON’T think you can turn up halfway through the parade on Monday and still hope to grab a good look at the action. Unless you’re 7ft tall. Or have X-ray vision. Or can jump ten feet in the air, thus enabling you to peer over the heads of the four-deep crowd in front of you. They say the early bird catches the worm, but in this case, the early bird gets to look at the parade in all its glory. We hear worms aren’t that tasty anyway.

DO plan your route to, and away from, Notting Hill. With so many people squashing into one little part of London, having a good entry and exit strategy is essential, as George W Bush might say. Work out which Tube line is your best way in, bearing in mind that several stations will be closed and others open only at limited times. Point your peepers towards our Carnival transport guide for more details.

DON’T stand patiently outside Ladbroke Grove Tube station, assuming that the gates will open at any moment, speeding you on your merry way. They won’t. Ladbroke Grove Tube station is closed throughout Sunday and Monday as a safety precaution.

DO arrange a suitable meeting place with friends in case you get split up during the day. Which, with all those people milling around, you probably will. And be specific. Don’t just go for “I’ll be at the end of Portobello Road around five-ish”. Arrange your meeting point to an exact spot on the pavement, or you’ll soon discover that locating a lost mate during Carnival is slightly trickier than finding a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

DON’T assume you can rely on your mobile phone to help you meet up with chums. Firstly, with x-thousand people yabbering into their handsets, all trying to find Dave who they haven’t seen since he wandered off during the parade, the networks frequently get overloaded. Secondly, it’s pretty hard to hear what the person on the other end of the line is saying over the din of another x-thousand people in full party mode.

DO opt for comfortable footwear. Trainers, basically. If the usual transport hell emerges and you find yourself having to walk half the way home, you’ll be grateful for something flat strapped to your soles. And that’s not to mention the hard labour you will put your feet through as you boogie away in the street to a great big sound system.

DON’T wear stiletto heels. Or stilts. Or running spikes. That would be silly.

DON’T assume that Monday is the be-all-and-end-all of Carnival. Yes, all right, so it’s the day of the main parade and the biggest crowds, but there’s also loads to do on the Sunday. The children’s parade is a scaled-down version of the main event, and you have a far better chance of seeing it. Not to mention getting a Tube home afterwards.

DO turn up on both days anyway. Carnival comes but once a year. And you’ll be back at work, watching the clock again, come Tuesday morning. Sigh.