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This page contains press release 59/03, in which the MPA welcomes Londoners and visitors to the Notting Hill Carnival and offers some simple guidelines on how to make Carnival safer for everyone.

Warning: This is archived material and may be out of date. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).

See the MOPC website for further information.

Celebrate Carnival in safety

59/03
21 August 2003

This August bank holiday weekend the Notting Hill Carnival is set to draw over one million revellers.

Welcoming Londoners and visitors to Carnival, Toby Harris, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said:

“Notting Hill Carnival is Europe’s biggest arts and music festival, attracting visitors from around the world, and deserves the reputation it has earned over the past few years for being a trouble-free, enjoyable spectacle.

“All the agencies involved have worked extremely hard in the preceding year to ensure that public safety has remained a paramount concern without impinging upon the exciting and vibrant display Carnival has always been.

“The Met has proactively identified and targeted potential trouble makers in the last week and is working hard to ensure that a small minority of potential troublemakers will not spoil the event for everyone else. The message, supported by everyone involved in the organisation of Carnival, is clear – ‘troublemakers will not be tolerated’.”

Help make Carnival safer for everyone by sticking to these simple guidelines:

  • come early and enjoy yourself – performances start at 11.00am and finish at 7.00pm;
  • plan your journey in advance and make sure that you have a map;
  • Sunday 24 August is Children’s Day – keep hold of your children at all times and keep pushchairs away from the busy areas;
  • if you are coming with friends, meet up before you get to Carnival, and stick together;
  • go with the flow of the crowd, not against it, and don’t run out in front of floats, get too close to them or jump on them;
  • remember that while in Notting Hill you are guests, so treat the residents and their properties with respect – don’t use their gardens or walls for vantage points - you are a visitor there for 48 hours, they live there all year round;
  • dress comfortably, don’t take valuables, and make sure you keep cash and mobiles in a safe place;
  • make Carnival safer by co-operating with police requests – work with police to help keep Carnival trouble free.

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