JANUARY | FEATURE they walk away with new skills and knowledge . They also have valuable existing skills that we need . Some go on to work with Mckenzie Arnold and have a career .”
Creating a safe event environment for 2 million people is a huge operation and one that involves monthly meetings with representatives from supporting councils Kensington and Chelsea , Westminster and the Greater London Authority , along with numerous other interested parties .
“ Notting Hill Carnival is a huge machine , there are tens of thousands of people working on it ,” says Phillip . “ We have a regular meeting each month and various smaller subgroups that meet to discuss various aspects of Carnival , but the core group consists of the councils , the Metropolitan Police , NHS England , St Johns Ambulance and London Ambulance , the Fire Brigade , Transport for London and others ,” says Phillip .
He believes the hard work of all parties involved in the event has helped transform its reputation : “ The issues that we had at Carnival in years gone by aren ’ t there anymore . There aren ’ t many arrests . When you consider the fact we have 2 million people , we are safer than most events in the country .”
Notting Hill Carnival 2020 event team
The progress made in the way Carnival has grown and developed in recent years has been reflected in media coverage , with Phillip ’ s PR engaging with all relevant channels .
“ We ’ ve done a lot of work around that for the last few years not only in managing the event and ensuring it is safe but also working with the media to try and get the real stories of Carnival out there . We can ’ t deny there have been issues in the past but in more recent years we have seen a significant improvement in the way the media reflects Carnival ,” he says .
Lost in music
The huge scale of Carnival not only presents significant security and logistical challenges for its operators , it can be intimidating for punters wanting to locate bands , on the four-mile parade route , or stages and sound systems within the vast site .
With the aim of helping visitors navigate their way around Carnival , an app was launched in 2019 that enables users to find everything from toilets to food stalls , and even locate exactly where a band is on its journey around the parade route .
Matthew Phillip , Carnival director
“ The app has been a really good tool for us to connect with Carnival goers and the community ,” says Phillip . “ People can use it to share images and stories , and we recently integrated a community rewards programme where people can support Carnival Arts through their regular spending habits . So , when they shop at retailers including Sainsbury ’ s , Argos and JD Sports 2 % of whatever they spend in those stores is donated to the Carnival Arts Development Fund .
Due to the nature of the event and the numbers of people who attend , Phillip says Carnival ’ s organisers avoid announcing the involvement of big-name artists but attendees will often find major-league music acts popping up on floats or on stages unannounced and giving great surprise performances for those lucky enough to be there .
There has been a huge amount of progress with Carnival in recent years and although 2020 has been a significant obstacle that has seen staff numbers halved , Phillip is confident that the sounds and sights of Carnival will return to the streets of Notting Hill next year .
He says , “ The only thing we can do is be optimistic . Our plans to return to the streets for August Bank Holiday 2021 are in full flight , we just have to keep monitoring the situation . We ’ re in full planning mode alongside all of our partners – everyone is engaged and supportive . At the moment that ’ s all we can do .”
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