Hi all, hopefully you read my tips post but I have some more specific info to share with you for this year’s festival. Only two days to go, getting very excited!

Travel

I’ve taken this all from the Notting Hill Carnival website, which is also on their Instagram. Below are the opening/closing times of the closest stations. Getting there is one thing but it is probably worth considering your exit plans. Especially on Monday, if you’re a Gooner, Arsenal kick off against Aston Villa (away) at 8pm, so allow extra time to get somewhere to watch.

Walking from the south end of Notting Hill Carnival to Paddington is about 25 mins. If you happen to be at the north side and need to walk through, you can probably add 90 mins to this time (i.e. don’t do it).

Ladbroke Grove - Closed all day
Latimer Road - Closes 23:00
Notting Hill Gate - 11:00 to 18:00 no entry
Westbourne Park - From 11:00 no entry
Holland Park - 11:00 to 15:00:no entry. Closes 15:00
Queensway - 11:00 to 18:00 no entry - the station is exit only
Royal Oak - 11:00 to 18:00 no entry. Closes18:00
Kensal Rise - 18:00 Chamberlayne Road entrance closed

Walking around

*The parade routes can get very busy but sometimes no other option*

One thing I forgot to mention in my tips post is that some roads are closed off, so to get around you kind of have to funnel down particular streets or go along with the parade (going against is possible, just slow work).

This cuts Notting Hill Carnival into three sections, with the westway/portobello road causing the biggest funnelling/crushing issue. This is why I recommended avoiding crossing there from 2-3pm onwards. You can see the roads blocked off in red on the map below.

*The three sections are circled, with a box around the worst bottleneck. Avoid post 2/3pm!*

There is also this interactive map, which is brilliant for navigating to the various sound systems. You can even download the map to view offline, as signal will be useless once inside the Carnival. This guy explains it best here.

*I’ve never posted so many images of maps*

Weather

Sunday is looking like it might be a bit wet based on the forecast, but it peaks at night, so if hopefully the afternoon isn’t too bad. Also 4mm of rainfall isn’t much really. Monday also looks similar, but maybe slightly wet. It’s also 4mm of rain, but if the majority is before 6am, then we should be fine.

So I don’t think rain will be much of a problem, but it will likely mean greyer skies than the last few years. No biggie!

I read somewhere before that approx. 0.9 million people attend on the Sunday, and 1.1 million on the Monday. If the weather is likely to be better on the Monday, it may swing it even more in that direction.

What I’m bringing

I do get some kind of sad enjoyment about planning what to take ahead of a day out shooting. Here are my current plans for this weekend:

Fuji X100F & Ricoh GRIV: I usually start the day with the Fuji, as I like composing through the viewfinder, but as it gets busier I switch to the wider option
Many batteries for cameras: Including the batteries inside the cameras, I’ll bring 3 for each. I’ve never used that many in one go, as I am switching between cameras. If it was just one camera, I would need more than 3 (maybe just a Fuji/Ricoh issue)
Godox iT32 Flash: I haven’t shot flash really at Carnival before, but given grey skies this year, I’ll give it a go
Hipflask with 20cl of Havana Club 7yo: There are plenty of bars around, but sometimes a little swig when you’re in the middle of the crowd is good
Water: I’m not great at remembering this one, but will try to include it this year
Hand Sanitiser: Worth keeping on you before you eat some of that lovely jerk chicken. I think some of the public toilets will run out of hand sanitiser too
Cash: Some places, including bars, are cash-only, so worth having some on you
Power bank: Primarily for my phone, as I think phones burn through power more when it struggles to find a signal. I’ll also use it to recharge the flash if needed
Bag: All of the above are quite small, bar the water bottle (hence I sometimes forget it). Will bring something that fits them all
Clothes: Usual clothes really. If you’re an Arsenal fan, feel free to wear Gooner gear, as there will be so many people sporting it there. I’m undecided about bringing a waterproof jacket; I do have one that can fold up very small, so if it can fit in my bag, I’ll bring it. I always hate walking around with something tied around my waist, or even worse, around my neck like a French man ;)

Quick Notting Hill Update

News update: New Zine and three dates for August