The Nottingham Carnival 2023 will be held on Sunday 20 August. The Carnival site is open from 12 pm to 8pm and the parade is at 2pm.
The whole of the Nottingham Carnival will be held at the Victoria Embankment, NG2 2JY.
It’s £6 per person to enter the Carnival site, however under 12s are free and it’s free to watch the Carnival Parade, which starts at 2pm.
We allow one carer accompanying a disabled person to enter for free.
Designated parking onsite is £6 for the whole day. Entry to the car park is from the Wilford Toll Bridge end of the Embankment. Contactless card payment is required on the day.
Advance tickets are available from Gigantic for £5.50 (including booking fee) per person.
The gates open at 12.00 pm and close at 8.00pm. The carnival parade starts at 2.00 pm.
Last entry to the carnival site is at 7.30pm.
Like every other year, the Nottingham Carnival provides a range of entertainment suitable for everyone.
This year, there will be four music zones featuring live bands, 30+ DJ’s and sound systems and steel bands.
As always, the music will include Soca, Reggae, Afro beat, Calypso, Salsa, RnB, Soul, Dancehall, Jungle, Grime, Baseline House.
Click here to download the programme.
There are lots of ways to get to the Nottingham Carnival site. You can catch the NET Tram to the Carnival site, the closest tram stop is Meadows Embankment. Find out more by clicking here.
You can use the Nottingham City Council’s Journey Planner to look at bus routes. Nottingham Train Station is just one mile away from the Carnival so you could walk along London road, hop in a taxi or catch the bus to the site.
If you are driving and want to use the designated car park, please enter the Embankment from the Wilford Toll Bridge end.
Yes. Secure parking is £6 for the day off Wilford Grove. The car park opens at 11.30 am.
You access the car park from the Wilford Toll Bridge end of the Embankment. Contactless card payment is required.
Food: There will be a wide range of world food stalls available for you to try within the carnival site.
Drinks: There are licensed bars on the Carnival site selling both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. You cannot bring your own alcohol onto the site – your bag will be searched and any alcohol found will be confiscated so please don’t try to bring it with you!
If you are interested in having a food stall at the Carnival, please email nottinghamcarnivalstalls@gmail.com
Bags will be checked on entry to the Carnival site.
You can bring onsite:
- Small foldable chairs (You may be asked to move if space becomes limited)
- Compact umbrellas and small sun shades for children
- Picnic blankets (You may be asked to move if space becomes limited)
- Picnic food
Please don’t bring on site:
- Dogs (except registered Guide Dogs)
- Alcohol
- Glass bottles
- Cameras and photography equipment that have detachable lenses
- Knives, including kitchen knives for picnics
- Recreational drugs and legal highs
- Bicycles
- BBQs
- Large umbrellas
- Any other items deemed to cause an obstruction.
Note: restricted items CANNOT be stored at the gate for collection later
Official photographers and videographers have been commissioned to take photographs and film at the Nottingham Carnival.
The photographs and films may be published, transmitted or broadcast in Nottingham Carnival and Tuntum Housing Association’s publications and publicity materials, and websites, and may be circulated to the press and other broadcast media and internet websites for publication, transmission or broadcast.
If you have any queries about this, please contact the Nottingham Carnival Team at carnival@tuntum.co.uk
If you are interested in having a trade or food stall at Nottingham Carnival, please email your details to nottinghamcarnivalstalls@gmail.com.
Applications (including full payments for trade stalls) close on Monday 24th July.
All stall holders must complete the required paperwork and complete their payment in advance of the Carnival to be allowed onsite.
Many people get involved in helping to make the carnival a success. However, there is an Event Management Team comprising of enthusiastic people who oversee the delivery of the event.
The troupes have their own committees and meet separately to organize the artistic aspect of the parade.
There are at least 12 troupes taking part this year from Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Leeds, Huddersfield, Luton and London. All representing the lively and diverse spirit of Nottingham Carnival.
Preparing for Nottingham Carnival is a yearlong project and the troupes are known to start designing their costumes straight after the previous Carnival.
If you wish to become part of a carnival troupe or you would like to help with making costumes, then please visit the Join a Troupe page of the website for the people to contact.
The Carnival takes place during the school holidays and so it has been a challenge to get schools involved, however, some troupes have links with their local schools.
Please check out the Getting Involved page for the roles that we need.
We’d love to hear from you if you think you can make a contribution to the Nottingham Carnival, please email carnival@tuntum.co.uk if you are interested in supporting the event.
There are no formal elections to be on the Carnival organising committee. To run the event successfully we need enthusiastic volunteers who bring necessary skills and experience to the table and welcome people with relevant skills. Find out how to get involved on the website.
Have a look at the roles that we need to fulfill on the Getting Involved page and email carnival@tuntum.co.uk for information or call 0115 916 6066.
For security. We want everyone to be safe at Carnival and to keep it a positive, family friendly event. This means keeping an eye on who enters and requires only one point of entry. It is also a requirement of the relevant bodies to grant the necessary licenses.
The Police actually classify this event as a ‘low risk’. That is why most of the police you will see are community support officers. However, safety and security are the responsibility of the organisers which is why you will see many local trained security personnel on duty there.
Like us on Facebook (Nottingham carnival), follow us on Twitter (notts_carnival) and keep checking the website www.nottinghamcarnival.com.
This will be the 22nd outdoor Carnival that has been organised with the support of Tuntum Housing Association since they helped to revive the event in 1999. Sadly due to Covid-19, we weren’t able to hold the Carnival in 2020 and 2021, so we held ‘virtual’ events.
The Nottingham Carnival receives money from a diverse range of sources. This includes the Arts Council of England, Tuntum Housing Association, sponsors and advertisers, stallholders and the invaluable contribution of the Carnival goers through the entrance fee.
We do and over the years we have had financial support from a diverse range of businesses. This year we’d like to thank our main sponsors (in alphabetical order): Arts Council; EMCCAN; Nottingham City Council; Tuntum Housing Association and the many organisations who have supported the printing of the programmes which are given out.