Nottinghill Carnival

What is your point GG13 ?

I think the point is you can't believe anything the Mayor of London says.

No point other than the conflicting opinions of The Mayor of London and The Metropolitan Police.

what has happened isn't unusual at a big event anywhere in the UK. We have festival local to us and they take on more staff in A&E and there is a heavy police presence because there is always a significant number of knife crime over that weekend. It is really sad and tbh it has put me off attending big events

Exactly Jane judge. I believe the Carnival was a great success. There always seems to be a certain element intent on causing havoc.I'll have a word with my grandsons and ask if they enjoyed it . They go every year. It is a while since I was there, but I do remember what fun it was. I always went on the Sunday, the family day.

I read that there were 8 stabbings and 334 arrests.

I accept that there was still the colourful and exuberant fun to be had away from these incidents but it is a very sad comment on the state of the nation that the carnival was used as, yet another, excuse for violence on a scale not usually seen at such events.

12 sex attacks, 8 stabbings, including a mother stabbed in front of child, plus thefts and over 300 arrests Perceptions may differ I guess depending on personal experiences.

TerriBull

12 sex attacks, 8 stabbings, including a mother stabbed in front of child, plus thefts and over 300 arrests Perceptions may differ I guess depending on personal experiences.

37 arrests for assaults on Emergency Workers, long with the drug arrests (intent to supply)

Peaceful and joyous? Certainly not for some.

Doesn't sound like a joyous event for all! Always shocked to read about attacks on Emergency Workers, that's so bad, we all need such people. I have no idea how festivals where large gatherings such as Glastonbury would compare to those figures, there would be incidents and inevitable arrests. Nevertheless these do sound unacceptably high at NH, which of course is a shame for the majority of the peaceful attendees.

There is nothing in the police stats over 3 days that contradicts what Khan said.

The arrest rate (based on 334 arrests among 1 million people) is just 0.034%, and crime stats are not the measure that should be used to judge the success of an event.

I’m not, of course, suggesting that crime is right or should be ignored (I’ve been a victim myself at Carnival) but needs to be seen in proportion.

That should say ‘not the only measure’.

Edit button, please, Gransnet.

Wonder if Starmer has the courts at the ready to fast track the offenders, probably not. Double standards are what he does best.

I could not make the carnival this year, however in the main it is peaceful, people enjoying themselves.
Over 1 million people attended the carnival, yes it is terrible this happened but it is done by only a few and most enjoyed themselves.

We have a big "Carribean" carnival here in Manchester which goes on for 2 days. It takes place in a park on the edge of a leafy middle class district which is probably not the best place for it. There are certainly more suitable parks, such as the one used for the Indian festival.

The "music" is so loud that you cant hear the TV or anything else if you are unfortunate enough to live on the edges of this park. At one time it used to go on until 10-11 pm both nights. There have been numerous petitions from local residents urging the LA to curtail the hours and the volume. The last few years we have managed to got the hours cut down to finish by 8 pm on saturday and 6 pm on sunday.

Everyone simply migrates to their own "local" area to continue the party. Its unusual not to hear of some "incident" in next days paper of shootings or stabblings and several arrests.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-66442116

Spinnaker

Wonder if Starmer has the courts at the ready to fast track the offenders, probably not. Double standards are what he does best.

No double standards the riots were organised in many cities by people goading thugs and racists. This carnival was in the main peaceful and people enjoy themselves. The numbers quoted were very small in comparison but still should not have happened, violence is abhorrent whoever commits it.

biglouis

We have a big "Carribean" carnival here in Manchester which goes on for 2 days. It takes place in a park on the edge of a leafy middle class district which is probably not the best place for it. There are certainly more suitable parks, such as the one used for the Indian festival.

The "music" is so loud that you cant hear the TV or anything else if you are unfortunate enough to live on the edges of this park. At one time it used to go on until 10-11 pm both nights. There have been numerous petitions from local residents urging the LA to curtail the hours and the volume. The last few years we have managed to got the hours cut down to finish by 8 pm on saturday and 6 pm on sunday.

Everyone simply migrates to their own "local" area to continue the party. Its unusual not to hear of some "incident" in next days paper of shootings or stabblings and several arrests.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-66442116

If the Carnival is the only large and noisy event that takes place in a year why complain. I remember when there were "Thames Days" organised by the then GLC. We went year when they had teams of boats from the former maritime republics in Italy who raced along the Thames. It was brilliant. We passed one woman who was complaining about the cost. I estimated the cost at around 6 pence per person in the GLC area and there were hundreds of thousands of people there, all enjoying it.

In France Music Night takes place on the evening of the longest day and music is allowed to continue after midnight. Even old people, like me, are out and enjoying it.

Thank you for a the senses of proportion. A million people wouldn't have turned up unless to enjoy and join in. Including Sunday which was the children's day. It’s been going on for 50 years.

Yes Khan has to address the crime levels with the police and stewards into the future.

It is really sad as JaneJudge says but there are no easy answers for crime in a dispersed crowd.
It bears absolutely no comparison with the riots!

There isn’t really anything to compare it with in the UK as it’s a huge spread out street event on a huge scale unlike pop festivals. The nearest I could find was competing it with Mardi Gras which has similar issues - has more heavy policing.

I have ab aquaintance who lives in Notting Hill . She books her holidays to coincide with the carnival. Not everyone enjoys loud noise, crowds of tourists, litter, rancid smell of hot dogs, etc.

Violence, disorder and disruption, but always the excuses because " I" enjoy it.

I encountered a similar festival in Manchester while visiting an Aunt in hospital a few years ago; some local residents were sitting in the Park in despair complaining about the endless noise that continued through the night for the whole weekend.
We had similar in our village for several years; a 'festival' in a privately owned field whose owner went away for the duration and ignored any complaints. When the police stopped the music at 2am the Happy Campers continued singing unaccompanied at the tops of their voices for another hour. Not just music and fights and drug-taking; front gardens used as toilets and rubbish discarded everywhere.
It has now been banned, so she is selling the field for building, as a punishment.

There is also a big Indian/Asian festival here but it takes place in another park which is larger and less residential. Its an interesting event with fashion parades and lost of stalls selling Asian food, jewellery and clothes. The music is far less disruptive and the event does not seem of attract the same level of crime. I used to go regularly when I was younger as I like Indian music.

Evidently these figures prove, There isn't sufficient police presence on the streets.

I do like the sound of that, biglouis

It does feel as if its the scale or it and its planning have got out of control simply by growing year on year from its origins.

It's the biggest festival of its kind in Europe, and people come as tourists for it. What are the ways it could be made safer?

Not out of control, but potentially dangerous due to drugs and alcohol and fights. One million attend.
Four million attended London Olympics, just a handful of arrests over several weeks.