Batten Down the Hatches!

The colourful costumes of the parade last year.

No, it's not a storm but it does pack quite a punch... it's the Notting Hill Carnival!

Held the last weekend in August (traditionally a bank holiday weekend), the Carnival is Europe's largest street party. Anywhere from 300,000 to half a million people flood the area... in which I happen to live! The height of the two-day party is the street parade on Monday, full of eye-popping colour and heady beats you can't help but groove to.

While I'm not right in the heart of Notting Hill, I'm within a 10-minute walk of the festivities... which means I'm on what I've come to call the 'puke and pee' route. As much as I love the food, dance, costumes and music that come with the Carnival, I do not like the drunken noise all night, not to mention the piles of rubbish and vomit outside my front gate.

Strolling to our local video store, we couldn't help but notice the shop-fronts being boarded up with plywood, and the row of portable toilets that line the roads. Police cars cruised by, and the streets seemed devoid of life. It was liking the area was preparing for a hurricane, or something.

And in a way, it is!

Bring it on - minus the puke and pee.

Boarded-up shop-fronts and rubbish-lined streets.