Oppurtunities – nottinghill carnival in 2007 a record number of tw million people attended the two day carnival wth another record amount of police force being deployed to protect the surrounding area and the citizens. There has also been talk that nottinghill carnival will expand to not only other parts of great Britain, but also into other countries. This would be a profitable lead forward for the PLC, because s far they have dominated the carnival sector within London each year bringing in the most amount of peole into their carnival than any other carnival totalled up together throughout the year. There popularity already proceeds them so if they were to expand into different countries keeping the same objectives they had when initially starting the carnival, then they not only have the potential to increase profits dramatically but also to increase the acceptance of social diversity in countries and cities that are less likely to beaware of cultures from around the world. The future outlook for the carnival as well as carnival go-ers is a more relaxed social environment not only at the carnival times but also all year round, and also create a diverser and more culturally aware society in general.
Threats – Although popularity within an event is generally a good thing, it can also be a downfall for an event such as nottinghill carnival. Especially so because it is an outside event, crime is a major problem within the carnival itself. Depsite having a reputation of being a spiritual, cultural and diverse carnival, it also has a bad reputation for criminal activity. Each year as numbers grow in attendees of the carnival, nubers also have to increase for the amount of security being deployed to protect citizens. The crime itself may not only be a downfall to the carnival, but the policing of the event may be also, seeing so many police force around will un-nearve the carnival go-ers and may even lead to repelling them from the event itself. The pollution the event causes (and nt necessarily the environemental pollution caused by the food and litter) but the noise pollution has proved to be somewhat of a major threat. Although only ever happening annually, the carnival s held within the streets of Ladbroke grove, which is populated by many houses and apartments in which people live, so to have a two day festival with over a million people attendings and music and bands and performances on stage, is not exactly the ideal living situation for residents at the last weekend of audust each year.
As mentioned above, the goals of the carnival are as follows:
To raise awareness of racial inequality
To create a wider and diverse culture within London itself
To attract worldwide citizens to join in celebrations in order to inform of objectives
And
To bring together the peole of nottinghill and ultimately create a racially harmonious society for us all.
In order to implement an effective strategy to manage the tourism within the carnival, there must be some documentation not only from the past but also for the present as well as the future outlook of the carnival and predictions on it too. This should be done on an annual basis and reported on upon completion of each and every carnival. Documentation is critical to transforming the way in which the event is portrayed and ultimately perceived by the public, ultimately enabling the organisers to form a strategy to entice, attract and control carnival go-ers. organisers and those responsible for the delivery of the Carnival must play a proactive role in co-ordinating and initiating the collection, preservation and dissemination of information about the Carnival’s history, contemporary significance and meaning. An idea of how to do this is to develop a strategic approach to the development of a Carnival Archives and Heritage Collections programme.
Not only is documentation each year of the carnival, useful in developing a tourism management and strategy programme, but it is also most useful in developing measurement strategies in order to figure the success of the event. Carnival organisers and sponsors no doubtedly use each and every carnival of theirs as an evaluation on how they can improve upon it the following year, profits counted can also be used as evaluation, however, they must also take immediate steps to ensure that appropriate mechanisms are put in place so that the views of residents are represented throughout the Carnival event planning and decision making process. So far, resident views and carnival go-ers views have been marginalised to such an extent that it seems as though their opinions have not even been a factor into the decision making and planning process of the carnival each year. This no doubt is a huge mistake, not showing at the moment of course due to the popularity and expectations of the event each year but future wise, if participants, residents and attendees opinions are not heard, they could easily tire of the carnival not having any new features to partake in. It is also important to look at competitors such as the London carnival, in order to view and analyse what it is that makes their competris successful and see if they can implement anything into their own carnival to make it more of a success.
Key Planning and management elements
Site planning – Obviously months of preparation go into the carnival, especially due to the fact that it is an ‘Open Space event’ Carnival organisers work closely with the following organisations, people and colleagues in order to ensure the smooth running of the event every year. The westminister government is consulted in order to be informed of any limitations and new rules and regulations that are to be applied to the carnival. St Johns ambulance and londons fire brigade are briefed and informed of any changes within the event and are also used on standby to ensure minimal emergency occurrences and any emergencies that do occur are dealt with smoothly and efficiently without too much of a panic. The councils of London are informed also to set boundaries and gain licensing for the event.
Crowd management is when the shape, the site design and the sze of the ‘venue’ is used in order to control and shape crowd behaviour, crowd control is when there is direct input into controlling crowds and contraining them also.
To ensure maximum entertainment and minimal hassle, nottinghill carnival organisers work closely with TFL and local councils. Road blocks are put up in advance so that people who are going about their normal day will be informed of closures. Dead-ends, bottle necks and spaces in trouble of cluttering are either closed off or signs are put up in advance to avoid the trouble. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 aims to end the discrimination that many disabled people face, nottinghill carnival acknowledge this and have provided many access points and ramps in order to cater for people with disabilities.
Traffic management – Carnival organisers as mentioned above plan, months beforehand and strategise the event taking place in order to ensure every scenario is a visible one, and no surprises happen that may offset the carnival. Organisers and sponsers work closely with TFL to ensure minimal amount of hassle occurs with traffic. Road signs are put up weeks before the event informing passers by and drivers of road closures, these signs are kept up throughout the event with officers on standby in order to inform alternative routes to citizens destinations. Online information is also available via the nottinghill carnival website, as well as the TFL website which informs the pblic of any closures or disturbances that may occur within their journey.
A programme plan is put up online in order to inform carnival go-ers of what exactly the two day celebration entails. A list of contacts including senior staff members of emergency sources is also put online along with full names, telephone numbers emails and faxes in order for participants to get in contact with whomever they need to regarding questions and advice they may have.
Nottinghill carnival official sponsors ( as published via their official website, ) are:
Jamaica drinks
Caribbear
Choce fm
Nice car company
Itv local
Other sponsors involved are:
western union
and
cool cache brands limited
(SEE APPENDIX 1 FOR DETAILED LISTINGS OF INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS)
Event Impacts – The impacts of such a large scale event like this one are no doubtedly going to be big, however not many could have predicted that such an event would have sporouted from what was once a small indoor festival in 1965.
Upon hitting a record amount of people, society began to acknowledge nottinghill carnival as the number one festival within London, this raised awareness of its objectives and goals thereby creating a more of a harmonious environment around London. Society became more aware of cultures not only from Africa, Trinidad, Tobago, and the carrbbeans, but also of cultures that are brought into the carnival by carnival go-ers. It is no longer a carnival to inform bu rather an annual celebration of cultural awareness and the diverness of our society and how we have grown to accept this.
The environment no doubt suffers from the amount of people littering and just being at thecarnival, however, green groups and charty organisations that are involved, work with organisers to minimise pollution, with recently a local air pollution control scheme to reduce pollution on a whole.
When first startng out as a small indoor carnival, political interest was at a low. Also racial bullies were put under arrest and broadcasted which then ultimately led to the widespread awareness of nottinghill carnival, to this day is has become a figure of political identity, fighting against racism and ensuring social and cultural equality.
(SEE APPENDIX 2 FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES OF MIPACTS)
Sustainability issues
Recycling – As an event that attracts over 2million people annually over the two day festival, an Environmental Policy Action Plan is critical to be put into practice by charity organisers involved within the festival. Waste is recycled continuously throughout the event and carnival 2004 saw the first chemical toilets to be used.
Measures to preserve cultural heritage – each year during the preparation stage, the carnival organisers discuss how they can ‘stick to their roots’ and not become just another carnival. The many food stalls invited are by different cultures worldwide, so the message of the carnival is still the same as was in 1965 – to create cultural equality and raise cultural awareness.
Measures to facilitate participation of the local community – Partticipation by local community is integral to the ongoing of the carnival, as they are the ones to be effected by it mostly. Questionnairs are posted to local community members in an attempt to gain public opinion.
Measures to promote health and well-being – Nottinghill carnival also aims to promoe health and well being, by acting as an insluential event towards society not only by recycling and managing their waste, but also encouraging healthy eating by having more organic food stalls.
Measures to evaluate the event – An interim report is issued towards all organisers and those directly involved within the event in order to measure the event each year and try to improve upon its successes as well as the may be failures. Questionnaires are past out amongst people, online polls are formed, opinion pages are reviewd upon all to measure how successful the ‘people’ thought that years festival was. Sponsors and partners are also informed upon in order to gain opinions on the carnival annually.
The Notting Hill Carnival should be embraced. It is a major world-class event that should be even more so supported both politically and financially. Clusters of carnival creatives can be found throughout London. Having initiated this review, organisers should focus on the following for improvements:
- Community outreach and development
- Event operation and management
- Fundraising and finance
Although the future prospects for the festival are more or less a definite success, the carnival itself can be improved upon radically, if proper strategic programmes are put into place for long term improvement and success.
references
http://www.nottinghillcarnival.org.uk/
http://www.isango.com/LandingItem.aspx?LandingTypeId=3&LandingItemId=27
http://www.nottinghillcarnival.org.uk/carnival2005route.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4188800.stm
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/upload/public/attachments/226/London_Notting_Hill_Carnival_Ltd_2769.doc
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/contemporary/day_record/carnival/record/index.html
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068
http://www.ddapr.co.uk/event-management.php?id=37
http://www.nottinghillcarnival.biz/
http://www.nottinghillcarnival.biz/sponsors.php
http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-festival/article_548.jsp
http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/EnvironmentalServices/OurPolicyStatement/eps_actionplan_waste.asp
www.portowebbo.co.uk/carnivalnews.htm
Getz D (2005) Event Management and Events Tourism. Cognizant Communication Corporation, London pp. 103-128
Bowdin, et al. (2006) Events Management. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford pp. pp. 120-134
APPENDIX 1
Nottinghill carnival official sponsors
Jamaica drinks – Jamaicas number one selling drink, and provider of nottinghill carnival.
Caribbear - Carib Brewery Trinidad Limited, leading supplier of alcoholic drinks for nottinghill carnival
Choce fm – the number one online radio station featuring interviews and music all online.
Nice car company – the number one suppliers of electrical cars
Itv local – One of britains top tv broadcasters, bringing you the 48hour carnival streaming live online.
Other sponsors they have are:
western union – Europes largest money transfer
and
cool cache brands limited – “Wine in a can”
sourced from ()
APPENDIX 2