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Floats at the Notting Hill Carnival are to be asked to turn down their sound systems this weekend if they breach noise levels.
Council officers are to patrol the Carnival route measuring sound systems suspected of exceeding the official threshold of 140 decibels.
The noise crackdown comes amid fears for the hearing of children and because the emergency services may not be able to communicate with each other.
Last year there were several occasions when the music from sound systems reached 140 decibels, which can damage hearing.
Floats are also being asked to start at the earlier time of 9am in order to ensure they finish early.
The moves are part of an effort to prevent a repeat of the violence that marred the end of last year's event. A total of 11,000 officers are to police the Carnival.
Reader views (18)
Some people put racism on hold for (3)days of each year, the Sunday & Monday of Nottinghill Carnival, and New Years Eve,then they are back to their normal racist behaviour yet again,what a bunch of hypocrites.
- Equalrights, London, 06/07/2010 17:09
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The Notting Hill Carnival began largely as a multicultural riposte to the Notting Hill race riots of 1958, and started out as an indoor festival in St Pancras Town Hall before moving outdoors.
The largest street carnival in Europe originated in 1964 as a means for Afro-Caribbean communities to come together and celebrate their own cultures and traditions. It is a dazzling display of both social solidarity and artistic expression.
The carnival boosts the capital’s economy by nearly £100 million.
There are more than 50,000 active participants, none of whom causes the problems at Carnival.
More than 1 million hours (not to mention cost) go into making and decorating the costumes.
For those of you who would like a little update on history, you can click on this link to be enlightened:
http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/notting-hill-carnival/biography/notting-hill-carnival-biog-finished
Caribana in Canada draws over 1.3 million people annually and pumps approximately $250 million in the Toronto economy, and is a successful festival not marred by the problems here as attitudes are different.
Hooliganism is a problem in Britain (whether at football matches or other large events), hence the problems at Carnival. Get people to change their attitude and don't blame the Carnival because the troublemakers are never the people who put their time and money in.
- Andrew Prince, London, England, 02/09/2009 05:15
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Mrmugambo, London, England
I've seen more than enough white males welcome at Carnival.
and where exactly did you see these "token" white males that told you they were made to feel welcome . on B.B.C london tonight ?
- Nai, london, 28/08/2009 16:49
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- Oilthieves, buck
The rich council you claim are moaning GIVE the Notting Hill Carnival organisers cash EVERY YEAR to hold the wretched event, as do the GLA, so clearly you don't know what your talking about!
- J., Fulham, 28/08/2009 15:09
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Gosh, a lot of moaners on here. There are some lovely English cheeses to go with your whines...
Mark Armstrong, London, UK,
So going by your reasoning, drug taking, brown envelopes, betting scandals, verbal abuse of certain players and riots in and around stadiums (not every week but note the recent match), football should not be allowed anywhere in the first place?
And Richie, London, settle down with your sweeping statement. I've seen more than enough white males welcome at Carnival. They aren't just the ones in uniform - and they're all enjoying themselves.
Some of the people I know working within Carnival - costume makers, steel pan players etc. - work very hard within the ever-changing regulations required. I do think the noise levels from sound systems should be limited (number of speakers, decibels etc.) as it is a real nuisance for residents, and should end no later than 7pm. Noise levels are monitored at events in the parks (Hyde Park in particular), so this should be no different.
- Mrmugambo, London, England, 28/08/2009 14:05
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Richie - ever thought it might just be YOU that's unwelcome?
- Nolan, Londonist, 28/08/2009 13:48
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Eddie, London
Ah it's come round again,the annual street party for London's layabouts.Still,gives them something to do for the day.
for the day ? some people hang about on street corners listen to bob marley and eat takeaways for a living , and you can bet your bottom dollar those creatures of habit will be there this weekend too.
- Nai, london, 28/08/2009 13:15
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- Oilthieves, buck
the biggest problem with the carnival is racism......?
theres always someone waiting in the wings, ready to pull out the good 'ol race card. maybe the english vocabulary should amalgamate the word "objection" with "racism" , because it always seems to get twisted into the latter . but most people are becoming rather bored of the repeated cries of "RACISM!".
put thet card away i say , it's got more dog-ears than battersea animal shelter !
- Clive, london, 28/08/2009 12:47
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thgis is a carnival of embezzlkement, corruption, drug pushing,and noise. WE are all fed up with it.
It has no place in Nottinghill and should never have been allowed there in the first place.
Usual chants of boringracism when u dont get your own way or if anyone commnents. -Pathetic.
- Mark Armstrong, london. uk, 28/08/2009 12:44
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Oilthieves,
Back in Notting Hill 1979, the violence was caused by racists. But the problems over the past few years with the perception of pre-event arrests, robbery and violence is also due to a small minority of people who come to the carnival to cause trouble. This tiny minority are responsible for staining the reputation of the carnival.
As you rightly point out, black people have overcome many obstacles and enjoy a lot of success - and not just in music and sport but politics (Abbott; Lammy), Finance (Buffini; Thiam), as well as a growing number of entrepreneurs (Campbell; Ejogo)...the list goes on and continues to grow. When you combine this we the Greats of the past (King; Seacole; Garvey; Marley...) we have a lot to celebrate.
Violence and criminality has nothing to do with our history so why do these fools bring violence to the carnival? They bring embarrassment to many black
people and shame upon themselves. From my experience of attending carnivals in London and the Midlands, they have no idea about black history and no intention of celebrating it.
I will be attending and I hope that people of all races and nationalities will come and enjoy Notting Hill carnival. Like I said, there are a few who want to spoil it for everyone and the media reports the negatives and the same goes for St George's day where they report on the racist thugs rather than the majority of English people who simply want to celebrate their history. Enjoy the carnival.
- Verona, London, 28/08/2009 12:33
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Helen dear, I'm sure you won't be disturbed in sunny Norwich
- David, London, 28/08/2009 12:32
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The biggest problem is racism.White males are made to feel extremely unwelcome indeed.
- Richie, London, 28/08/2009 12:21
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Oilthieves, buck..
That's it wheel out the old racism cliche.
Perhaps the police can use a hands off approach at certain events because they don't draw in the drug dealers, knife crime, gun crime, dangerous dog owners, muggers et al...Some events just can't be trusted to run themselves and not endanger the public.
- Mark H, London, England, 28/08/2009 12:21
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Ah it's come round again,the annual street party for London's layabouts.Still,gives them something to do for the day.
- Eddie, London, 28/08/2009 12:14
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Fat hope! Those soudn systems are not even turned down in residentces, let alone out in the street.
- Helen, norwich, 28/08/2009 11:27
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the biggest problem with the carnival is racism
1. a rich council constantly moaning because black people have overcomethe obstacles & made something successful & still control it
2. police using the media to highlight pre-event arrests & feeding public paranoia about violence & robbery - to poison pulic perception, to mis-associate the carnival with a football fan riot - so they can earn claim millions of pounds for watching & kettling people to bursting point - put as many people off as possible
is it too much to ask for the racists to go elsewhere - to manage & police their own whiteonly party, that the carnival is treated with the same hands off approach of recent climate change camp? Or does the climate camp get special treatment because it's controlled by the government to meet their interests - while the carnival does not fit with their agenda?
- Oilthieves, buck, 28/08/2009 11:10
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Like that's gonna happen.The whole event's geared around breaking the rules.
- Steve, London, 28/08/2009 11:08
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What about the idiots with "1000 Watt" (yeah, right) 130dBa sound systems in their cars, boom boom tshh tsshing (same tune each time) around towns and cities all over England?
Time to ban these, along with noisy exhausts, methinks.
House walls and double glazing are little protection against Bass frequencies, so why are we letting these obnoxious antisocial twerps infest our homes and areas of tranquility?
Too much background noise is proven bad for concentration, sleep and therefore mental wellbeing.
Time fer a change, innit?
- Darius, London UK, 28/08/2009 10:48
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