Notting Hill Carnival guide: Festival map, parade route, event times, schedule and road closures

Notting Hill Carnival is set to make a triumphant return this Bank Holiday weekend after the pandemic shut down the colourful street party two years running.

Tomorrow will be the first time Europe’s biggest street party – which is rooted in British-Caribbean culture – has gone ahead since 2019, being the 54th carnival since in inception back in 1966.

The carnival has its roots in an indoor celebration organised from 1959 to 1966 by Trinidadian communist Claudia Jones in response to Notting Hill race riots in 1958.

The murder of aspiring Antigua lawyer Kelso Cochrane spurred on Rhaune Laslett to organise a children’s street fayre that ended up being the first outdoor carnival in 1966 when the popular Russ Henderson Steel Band got involved.

Notting Hill Carnival brings hundreds of thousands of tourists to London and is thought to create £120million for the London economy.

We have put together a guide to help you out if you plan on joining the festivities this weekend.

Notting Hill Carnival 2022 schedule

Saturday

Before the official start of Notting Hill carnival on Sunday, Panorama, the UK’s national steelband competition will entertain crowds tomorrow.

The steelpan extravaganza will take place from 6pm to 11pm tomorrow, August 27 at Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park, Kensal Road.

Sunday

Notting Hill Carnival begins properly on Sunday, August 28, and is generally considered the more relaxed day and the best option if you are attending with children.

The traditional celebration of J’Ouvert before the formal start of Carnival starts at 6am at the Sainsbury’s on Canal Way in Ladbroke Grove and will continue until 9am.

The Notting Hill Carnival 2022 opening ceremony starts at 10am and will last until 10.30am at the Judging Zone on Great Western Road.

The Children’s Day Parade and Carnival will take place from 10.30am to 5pm.

The Adults ‘Dutty Mas’ with an extended J’Ouvert theme will take place from 10.30am to 8.30pm on the parade route.

A stage for children’s entertainers called Meanwhile Gardens will also be set up on Sunday.

Bank Holiday Monday

The Adults Day Parade and Carnival will take place from 10.30am to 8.30pm along the parade route.

Events and timings across both Sunday and Monday

Huge sound systems run by masses of DJs and MCs will be dotted around the parade route between 12pm to 7pm.

The Judging Point on Great Western Road / Westbourne Park Road Street closes 8.30pm.

There will also be seven Brazilians bands, 14 steel bands and more than 100 live stages at Carnival this year.

Street trading operates from 10am to 8pm in Kensington and Chelsea and 10am to 7pm in Westminster.

Each year, the Carnival goers scoff a whopping five tonnes of chicken, 30,000 corn on the cobs and a tonne of rice and peas.

They also definitely have a great time drinking five million drinks over Sunday and Monday, including 25,000 bottles of rum, according the Evening Standard.

Notting Hill Carnival 2022 parade route

The Notting Hill Carnival parade route will take place over a three and half mile loop that spans across most of the W10 postcode.

The parade usually starts around Westbourne Grove tube station at its south-east point.

It then goes west to Ladbroke Grove and north until reaching Kensal Road.

The route then follows Kensal Road towards Westbourne Park station.

Once the route reaches Great Western Road it joins up with Chepstow Road. 

Notting Hill road closures

The Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea Council will close around 300 roads this weekend, most of which will be from 6am on Sunday to 6am on Tuesday, August 30.

Only Carnival floats, pre-authorised event vehicles and emergency vehicles will be allowed into the area during these times and any residents who need to remove their vehicles should do before Sunday morning.

List of all Notting Hill Carnival road closures:

• Acklam Road
• Adair Road
• Adela Street
• Alba Place
• Alderson Street
• Aldridge Road Villas
• Alexander Mews
• Alexander Street
• Alfred Road
• Alfred Road
• All Saints Church Piazza
• All Saints Road
• Appleford Road
• Artesian Road
• Arundel Gardens
• Athlone Place
• Avondale Park Road 
• Balliol Road
• Bark Place
• Barlby Gardens
• Barlby Road east of Notting Barn Road
• Barlby Road west of Notting Barn Road
• Bartle Road
• Basing Street
• Bassett Road
• Bevington Road
• Bishop’s Bridge Road from Porchester Road to Westbourne Grove
• Blagrove Road
• Blake Close
• Blechynden Street
• Blenheim Crescent
• Bomore Road
• Bonchurch Road
• Bosworth Road
• Bott’s Mews
• Boyne Terrace Mews
• Bracewell Road
• Bramley Road south of Cambridge Gardens to Crowthorne Road
• Bramley Road south of Crowthorne Road
• Brewster Gardens
• Bridge Close
• Bridstow Place
• Brunel Estate
• Calderon Place
• Cambridge Gardens east of St Mark’s Road
• Cambridge Gardens west of St Mark’s Road
• Camelford Walk
• Caradoc Close
• Caroline Close
• Caroline Place
• Chapel Side
• Chepstow Crescent
• Chepstow Place
• Chepstow Road
• Chepstow Villas
• Chesterton Road
• Clanricarde Gardens
• Clarendon Cross
• Clarendon Road
• Clarendon Walk
• Clydesdale Road
• Codrington Mews
• Colville Gardens
• Colville Houses
• Colville Mews
• Colville Road
• Colville Square
• Colville Terrace
• Conlan Street
• Convent Gardens
• Cornwall Crescent east of St Marks Road
• Courtnell Street
• Crowthorne Road
• Dalgarno Gardens
• Dalgarno Way
• Dartmouth Close
• Dawson Place
• Denbigh Close
• Denbigh Road
• Denbigh Terrace
• Dulford Street
• Dunworth Mews
• Durham Terrace
• East Row
• Edenham Way
• Elgin Avenue
• Elgin Crescent
• Elgin Mews
• Elkstone Road
• Exmoor Street
• Faraday Road
• Fermoy Road
• Finstock Road
• Footbridge between Acklam Road & Tavistock Crescent
• Fosbury Mews
• Garway Road
• Golborne Gardens
• Golborne Mews
• Golborne Road from the junction with Elkstone Road to the junction of Kensal Road
• Great Western Road starting at the junction with Harrow Road
• Great Western Road within Westminster
• Grenfell Road
• Harrow Road west bound at the junction of Edgware Road
• Harrow Road 
• Hatherley Grove
• Hayden’s Place
• Hazelwood Crescent
• Heads Mews
• Hereford Mews
• Hereford Road
• Hewer Street
• Highlever Road
• Hill Farm Road
• Hillman Drive
• Hippodrome Place
• Holland Park Mews
• Horbury Crescent
• Horbury Mews
• Hormead Road
• Humber Drive
• Hurstway Walk
• Ilchester Gardens
• Inver Court
• Inverness Place
• Inverness Terrace
• Kelfield Gardens
• Kelfield Mews
• Kennet Road
• Kensal Road
• Kensington Gardens Square
• Kensington Park Gardens
• Kensington Park Mews
• Kensington Park Road
• Kildare Gardens
• Kildare Terrace
• Kingsbridge Road
• Kingsdown Close
• Ladbroke Crescent
• Ladbroke Gardens
• Ladbroke Grove
• Ladbroke Road
• Ladbroke Square
• Ladbroke Terrace
• Ladbroke Walk
• Lambton Place
• Lancaster Road
• Lansdowne Crescent
• Lansdowne Rise
• Lansdowne Road
• Lansdowne Walk east of Lansdowne Road
• Latimer Place
• Latimer Road
• Leamington Road Villas
• Ledbury Mews North
• Ledbury Road
• Leinster Square
• Linden Gardens
• Lombardy Place
• Lonsdale Mews
• Lonsdale Road between Portobello Road and Colville Road
• The rest of Lonsdale Road
• Malton Mews
• Malton Road
• Malvern Close
• Matthew Close
• McGregor Road
• Methwold Road
• Middle Row
• Millwood Street
• Monmouth Place
• Monmouth Road
• Moorhouse Road
• Morgan Road
• Moscow Place
• Moscow Road
• Munro Mews
• Needham Road
• Newton Road
• Norburn Street
• North Pole Road
• Northumberland Place
• Notting Barn Road
• Notting Hill Gate single lane eastbound between Pembridge Road and Linden Gardens
• Nursery Lane
• Oakworth Road
• Orchard Close
• Orme Court
• Orme Court Mews
• Orme Lane
• Orme Square
• Ossington Close
• Ossington Street
• Oxford Gardens
• Palace Court
• Pangbourne Avenue
• Pembridge Crescent
• Pembridge Gardens
• Pembridge Mews
• Pembridge Place
• Pembridge Road
• Pembridge Villas
• Pickering Mews
• Poplar Place
• Porchester Gardens
• Porchester Road
• Porchester Square
• Portland Road
• Powis Gardens
• Powis Mews
• Powis Square
• Powis Terrace
• Prince’s Mews
• Princes Square
• Princess Court
• Queen’s Mews
• Queensway
• Raddington Road
• Redan Place
• Rede Place
• Rootes Drive
• Rosmead Road
• Salem Road
• Salters Road
• Scampton Mews
• Shrewsbury Mews
• Shrewsbury Road
• Shrewsbury Road
• Shrewsbury Street
• Silchester Road
• Snarsgate Street
• Southam Street
• Southern Row
• St Andrews Square
• St Charles Place
• St Charles Square
• St Ervans Road
• St Helen’s Gardens
• St John’s Gardens
• St Johns Mews
• St Josephs Close
• St Lawrence Terrace
• St Luke’s Mews
• St Luke’s Road
• St Marks Road south of Malton Road/Walmer Road
• St Marks Road north of Malton Road/Walmer Road
• St Marks Place
• St Michaels Gardens
• St Petersburgh Mews
• St Petersburgh Place
• St Quintin Avenue
• St Stephen’s Crescent
• St Stephen’s Gardens
• St Stephen’s Mews
• Stanley Crescent
• Stanley Gardens
• Station Walk
• Sunbeam Crescent
• Sunderland Terrace
• Sutherland Place
• Sutherland Place
• Sutton Way
• Swinbrook Road
• Talbot Road
• Talbot Road
• Tavistock Crescent
• Tavistock Mews
• Tavistock Road
• Telford Road
• Threshers Place
• Tollbridge Close
• Treadgold Street
• Treverton Street
• Uxbridge Street
• Verity Close
• Vernon Yard
• Victoria Gardens
• Victoria Grove Mews
• Wallingford Avenue
• Walmer Road
• Webb Close
• Wedlake Street
• Wellington Close
• West Row
• Westbourne Gardens
• Westbourne Grove
• Westbourne Grove Mews
• Westbourne Grove Terrace
• Westbourne Park Road
• Westbourne Park Villas
• Western Mews
• Westview Close
• Wheatstone House
• Whitchurch Road
• Wilby Mews
• Woodfield Place
• Woodfield Road
• Wornington Road south of Golborne Road only