Londoners can no longer afford the Notting Hill Carnival

Around 2m people flock to Notting Hill Carnival each year. But there is no such thing as a free lunch, or free street party, says James Ford.

World-famous street party finds itself at a crossroads as it battles rising costs and safety fears as it celebrates its 60th anniversary

‘I’ve been photographing Notting Hill Carnival for 50 years – it’s very different today’ John Dunne | Senior News Correspondent Published August 26, 2026 6:00am Caption: Photographer Ian Watts has been capturing Notting Hill Carnival for decades(Picture: ©Ian Watts @ianwattstv /www.ianwatts.org) An award-winning photog

Notting Hill Carnival: 60 years of costumes, sound systems, steelpan & calypso | ITV News  ITVX

As a child, being taken to the Caribbean celebration was a drag. But once sound systems arrived in the 1970s, it became an unmissable yearly pilgrimage offering a sense of freedom My earliest memories of the Notting Hill carnival are of being mildly irritated. In its 1960s infancy, the event was strictly a Caribbean af