Nottinghill Carnival

westendgirl

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.

8 stabbings, one critical, 349 arrests so far, sexual assaults. Disrespect of the police. Watched video of someone’s ring doorbell, of men & woman, loads of them urinating in the the persons garden, disgusting! Like something from the walking dead, or worse, hill’s borough 🙄 super successful indeed

Gummie

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

Peaceful and joyous my arse.
Well over 200 arrests some of them very violent, stabbings and assaults and 35 injured police officers.
The Notting Hill Carnival needs to be permanently closed down.Is this what London wants every year? Muggings and violence on an epic scale.

I feel so sorry for the people who live in those streets, having to pay to have their house fronts boarded up, so folk can’t use their gardens as cess pits- no wonder they bugger off for the weekend- I would be fretting what I would be coming home to 😩 I am sure it could be held in Hyde Park or somewhere like that

Wyllow3

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?

Sounds interesting, better organised 😊

I can see the carnival moved to an inside stadium the same as the Rio carnival.
I’ve been to both. Obviously the inside one was very very different.

I believe the Rio Carnival is outside, with the Samba schools parading indoors. and goes on for 4 days.

Our son and DIL lived in Nottinghill until very recently.
They left for the Bank Holiday each year, they said it was dangerous and disgusting.

My grandsons were there and saw nothing untoward, just people enjoying themselves.
As I said before there is unfortunately, usually an unruly element in a large gathering. Remember the Mods and Rockers who went to Brighton Bank holiday to have a bust up .I am sure that some people go to football to have a fight or behave badly.It is a great pity that this happens.

westendgirl

My grandsons were there and saw nothing untoward, just people enjoying themselves.
As I said before there is unfortunately, usually an unruly element in a large gathering. Remember the Mods and Rockers who went to Brighton Bank holiday to have a bust up .I am sure that some people go to football to have a fight or behave badly.It is a great pity that this happens.

No stabbings though

I just checked on staging levels in London generally to get a perspective.

"The number of knife or sharp instrument offences recorded by the police in London rose to approximately 15,016 in 2023/24, compared with 12,786 in the previous year"

www.statista.com/statistics/864736/knife-crime-in-london/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20knife%20or,when%20there%20were%2015%2C928%20offences.

So sadly the knife crime at the carnival was not higher than in general.

Not sure how it can be done but I think all big events should have limited numbers.

For the huge majority of the one million people who attended in total, it was a peaceful and enjoyable event: spoiled by a minority (in the evenings especially we're talking drugs/alcohol probabilities).

Googling, I found that in 2005 it was widely discussed whether it would be a good idea to use Hyde Park
www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/notting-hill-carnival-use-hyde-park-1

It doesn't say why it didn't go ahead, but does indicate people are considering alternatives.

Notting Hill has changed so much. It was once a culturally mixed marginal area of multi occupancy houses, and the people who set up the initial carnivals no longer live there, but is now the 7th most expensive area to live in London and is advertised as

"This is one of the most important areas in London which genuinely represents everything about the culture of London.

"One of Europe’s famous festivals is also celebrated in Notting Hill".
It has beautiful Victorian townhouses lined up, and their average cost starts from GBP 1–20 million".

I think alternatives need to be looked at but they need to be negotiated?

Yes gorgeous houses. Imagine having million odd folk dancing past your door, ha, doesn’t bare thinking about. Needs a large area & plenty of loos to celebrate this carnival

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202408/medium-551835-img-1781.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202408/medium-639941-img-1780.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202408/medium-478793-img-1779.jpeg

No stabbings though

They drowned a young lad in Hastings.

The news coverage of the south and south east coastal resorts affected sounds oddly familiar…

Siope

^No stabbings though^

They drowned a young lad in Hastings.

The news coverage of the south and south east coastal resorts affected sounds oddly familiar…

That too was probably a nightmare back in the day

It can't be so dreadful if people with millions of pounds choose to buy a house there and its actually advertised as part of the attractions that Time Out recommend

www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/notting-hill-area-guide#:~:text=Notting%20Hill%20is%20so%20much,it's%20got%20oodles%20of%20fascinating

But as I said because it is held in a small dense area it has to be reviewed.

Wyllow3

It can't be so dreadful if people with millions of pounds choose to buy a house there and its actually advertised as part of the attractions that Time Out recommend

www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/notting-hill-area-guide#:~:text=Notting%20Hill%20is%20so%20much,it's%20got%20oodles%20of%20fascinating

But as I said because it is held in a small dense area it has to be reviewed.

Definitely does, too many people crammed in that bottle neck- could you imagine if there had been a massive crush, with multiple deaths? They would probably still say it had been a success 🙄

As the wife and then widow of a police officer I hated the NHC - all leave cancelled every year, and the worry that he would be injured. 35 officers i njured this year - we don't see much about that in the newspapers, do we? . We prayed for rain every year!

Mt61

Wyllow3

It can't be so dreadful if people with millions of pounds choose to buy a house there and its actually advertised as part of the attractions that Time Out recommend

www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/notting-hill-area-guide#:~:text=Notting%20Hill%20is%20so%20much,it's%20got%20oodles%20of%20fascinating

But as I said because it is held in a small dense area it has to be reviewed.

Definitely does, too many people crammed in that bottle neck- could you imagine if there had been a massive crush, with multiple deaths? They would probably still say it had been a success 🙄

I honestly think if that had been the case, it wouldn't have been called a success - time for a compromise, perhaps with one lengthened parade but other events taking place spread out, this in such and such a park, that in another venue?

The trouble is over time it's just kept to the same format but numbers coming has changed and its become a tourist event.

escaped

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.

Obviously you couldn’t have seen the footage of that crowd stuck in the bottle neck, police all caught up in it, people climbing up hoardings to escape the crush.. reminded me of hillsborough- frightening.

Wyllow3

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.

Can't remember 37 attacks on Emergency workers, can't remember reports of stabbings, during the riots, wonder how the thugs who carried out these attacks were aware of the carnival. Oh yes the Internet. Double standards. Its a regular hot spot for the worst criminal behaviour, yet nothing done to contain it,or goodness forbid, make everyone go through scanners, one entrance , so in an area like Hyde Park, why should shop keepers and householders have to live in fear of going out of their own front door.

Who pays to clean up the pee & poo out of residents front gardens? Surely not the owners?

Two people have now died due to their injuries, the young mum stabbed in front of her child and a chef knocked unconscious. Tragic[

TerriBull

Two people have now died due to their injuries, the young mum stabbed in front of her child and a chef knocked unconscious. Tragic[

Absolutely tragic😩

The Indian festival takes place near the rear end of a much bigger park which is bordered by industrial units. So less ordinary residents to be disturned and a wider space to distribute the participants and visitors.

My aquaintance in Notting Hill owns a flat (a short walk from Portobello Market) but she says she has no wish to be there over that paricular weekend. By the time she returns the LA will have cleared up the mess. Surely there are big parks in London where this event could be held.