Notting Hill Carnival turns 60: London’s great diaspora celebration returns
Over the August bank holiday, west London erupts in colour, steel pan and soca as Europe’s biggest street festival marks its 60th anniversary.
For three days over the August bank holiday weekend - Saturday 29 to Monday 31 August 2026 - the streets of west London will once again fill with feathers, sound systems and the smell of jerk chicken, as Notting Hill Carnival celebrates a landmark 60th anniversary.
Born in 1966 out of London’s Caribbean community, the Carnival has grown into one of the world’s largest street festivals, drawing well over two million people each year. It remains, at heart, a celebration of Caribbean heritage and a powerful statement of belonging by Britain’s African and Caribbean diaspora.
The weekend has its own rhythm. Saturday is the National Panorama steel band competition; Sunday brings J’Ouvert at dawn and the Children’s Parade; and Monday is the spectacular adults’ parade, when masquerade bands in dazzling costumes take over the route in the festival’s grand climax.
This year the Mayor of London has pledged around £5 million to support the event, with a focus on crowd safety and managing the huge numbers - a sign of both the Carnival’s scale and the care needed to keep it joyful and safe.
For the diaspora, Carnival is more than a party. It is living culture passed between generations, a stage for community pride, and a reminder that the contributions of migrant communities are woven into the fabric of British life. DCTV’s UK desk will be there to capture it all.
