Notting Hill Carnival is a huge street event held every summer in Notting Hill, London. This year it is being held on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st August 2020. The carnival includes the street parade, steel bands, Brazilian bands, live music, street food, dancing and a whole lot more!
Volunteering at Notting Hill Carnival is one of the best ways of playing a part in one of the liveliest, most colourful carnivals in Europe. With over 2 million visitors, 9,000 police and a cast and crew of over 40,000 volunteers and staff, there is huge scope to be a volunteer at Notting Hill Carnival.
Notting Hill Carnival is an excellent example of how event management works. If you would like to learn more about our industry, our courses will help!
Notting Hill Carnival relies on an army of volunteers to make the event happen. It is estimated that around 40,000 volunteers help out either directly or indirectly via charities, clubs and organisations participating in the event and other agencies who play a part.
The main volunteering role at the Notting Hill Carnival is stewarding. Helping keep the carnival procession moving, helping the public, offering directions and helping out wherever you can. You can apply to be a steward directly with the organisers.
Two organisations that help run the event include Island Spartans and The Model Code Agency.
There are a few useful Facebook pages that might be worth joining too:
Charities also offer volunteers at Notting Hill Carnival.
CharityJob is a useful website to find volunteer positions with charities.
What jobs you could be doing when volunteering at Notting Hill Carnival depends entirely on who you volunteer with. Many of the attendees ask for volunteers to help. The main Notting Hill Carnival organisation looks for stewards and the many charities, organisations and good causes who also have a presence will need all the help they can get!
Volunteer roles at Notting Hill Carnival will likely include stewarding, customer service, helping with floats and costumes, offering help and directions, assisting on stalls and kiosks, helping prepare bands, waiting and serving and all manner of roles.
Despite the event using a huge number of volunteers, there is no defined way to secure a role at Notting Hill Carnival. The organisers request stewards but there isn’t a lot of information about it right now.
You can apply to be a steward directly with the organisers.
Many bands, organisations, charities and other attendees will all need help. Our advice would be to find out who is taking part at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival and approach them directly. Priority will go to members, their families and residents but the sheer volume of volunteers required will likely mean opportunities for you too.
There will be a little detective work involved but it should be straightforward. The official Notting Hill Carnival website has lists of the many bands and live acts that will be appearing. Each page has a list of individual acts. You can work your way through those contacting any you like the look of or who are requesting volunteers. Just prepare a pitch in advance and email it to them or reach out through Facebook.
It is surprising that an event the size and scope of the Notting Hill Carnival doesn’t make it easier for volunteers to apply. Nevertheless, we know they are needed so it’s up to you to find your spot.
Good luck with it!
