Notting Hill Carnival 2025: What to expect
Europe's largest street party returns to the streets of west London
Last updated 23rd Aug 2025
The August bank holiday sees the return of the iconic Notting Hill Carnival and the celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture across the UK.
From Saturday to Monday, the streets of west London will see the playing of steel pans, elaborate costumes and hundreds of thousands of visitors.
If you're joining the celebrations this weekend, here's the run down of how the weekend will play out.
Day by day
Saturday 23rd August
UK National Panorama Steel Band Competition at Emslie Horniman's Pleasance Park. Hosted from 4pm-11pm.
Sunday 24th August
- J'ouvert - a pre-dawn celebration which typically marks the start of carnivals in the Caribbean - Sainsbury's by Canal Way Roundabout - 6am-9am
- The official opening ceremony of the Notting Hill Carnival - Great Western Road - 10am-10:30am
- The Children's Day Parade- Great Western Road - 10:30am-5pm
- Dutty/ Fun Mas - on the Parade Route
- Sound Systems - various locations throughout the carnival space - 12pm-7pm
- Live stages including the Powis Square Stage - 12pm-7pm
Monday 25th August
- Adult's Parade - the parade route all through Notting Hill
- Sound Systems - various locations throughout the carnival space - 12pm-7pm
- Live stages including Emslie Horniman's Pleasance - 12pm-7pm
At 3pm on Sunday and Monday, there will be a 72 second silence to remember the 72 victims of the Grenfell Tower Fire. This moment will also remember Kelso Cochrane, whose racist murder in 1959 lead to the founding of the Notting Hill Carnival.
Police presence at the event
The Metropolitan Police have laid out their plans for how they will keep the hundreds of thousands of carnival goers safe this year.
This includes the use of facial recognition technology on the approaches to and from Carnival to help identify those who may pose a public safety risk before they arrive to the event.
Screening arches will also be in place at the busiest entry points along with stop and search to prevent any dangerous weapons such as knives making their way into the carnival.
Ahead of Carnival, the Met also say they carried out the arrests of over 100 people and seized 40 knives and 11 firearms to help prevent serious violence at the event.