Street trading at Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival 2022

Applications process for street trading in Carnival 2022 is now open (16:00hrs 1 June 2022). We apologise for this delay and have also emailed all Priority Traders (those who traded in 2019) to give access to the system. Priority traders will be able to upload documents etc up until the stage of signing up for training courses to complete their applications. This will be ready next week. All will be notified when that is open.

We apologise for the delay and we have opened the system to allow for applications to begin.
If you have any queries please contact [email protected].
The Reserve List remains closed and further announcements will be made at the start of July 2022.

Updated 16:00hrs 1 June 2022

Frequently asked questions on street trading at Carnival

Below are frequently asked questions and guidelines for Street Trading at Notting Hill Carnival. Please read the information carefully and ensure you are able to comply with the requirements and street trading licence conditions, before applying to be added to the Street Trading Reserve List.

Q1. How does the street trading application process work?

The application process works in three stages:

Step 1. Traders, who have complied with their licensing conditions from the previous year, will be given Priority Booking for the upcoming Carnival. Applications usually open at the start of June.
Step 2. These traders are given first refusal to book the same site or transfer to an alternative location, subject to availability.
Step 3. Once last year’s traders have been allocated their site by mid July, all applicants on the Street Trading Reserve List will be given the opportunity to apply for the remaining sites. The Reserve List will be open in July. These sites will be allocated in order of receiving a completed application.

All enquiries regarding dates and requirements will be responded to via the registered email address [email protected].

Q2. What are the requirements for becoming a street trader at Notting Hill Carnival?

All traders must:

be over the age of 18 years old
have a National Insurance Number
have Third Party Public Liability Insurance in the name the application is made under, not the company name. The insurance must be for the duration of the event, minimum value of £5,000,000 (see Q5 for more information)
must not have any convicted offences of unlicensed street trading within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea or any criminal convictions.
have a Level 2 Award Food Safety in Catering (when cooking and re-heating food) valid within the last 5 years

When applying for a licence you will be required to provide this documentation to support the above.

Food Safety Award Information

A Level 2 Food Safety course teaches the essentials of food safety and is suitable for all workers who handle, prepare and serve food. The course covers the legal responsibilities of workers within a food environment, and comprehensively addresses food safety threats and the good practice required to minimise them.

By law, all food handlers must have an understanding of the principles of food hygiene and know how to work safely to protect the food they serve from contamination.

If you would like to qualify for an Award in Food Safety, please contact an accredited provider. Below are links to some accredited providers.

National Fraud Initiative

Under Section 6 of the Audit Commissions Act 1998 the Council is required to participate in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise. All information provided will be used for cross system and cross authority comparison purposes for the prevention and detection of fraud.

Q3. What commodities can I sell at Notting Hill Carnival?: Traders are able to sell food, non-food goods or both, this includes soft drinks – please see Q4 for what is not permitted to be sold.

Q4. What can I not sell at Notting Hill Carnival?: Street traders are not permitted to sell alcoholic drinks of any type (such as: spirits, ales, beers, lagers, stout, port, wine, cider, rum punch or alcoholic jellies). It is not permitted to offer or give away samples of alcoholic drinks. Street traders are not permitted to sell illegal substances or legal highs. It is not permitted to sell Nitro Oxide (laughing gas) at Notting Hill Carnival.

Second hand toys or electrical equipment, knives, solvents or any kind or real or imitation firearms are not permitted.

No counterfeit goods or unauthorised copies of copyright designs or labels. Fortune-telling, tattooing, body piercing, head massage, hairdressing or tarot reading are also not permitted.

Q5. Where can I obtain Third Party Public Liability Insurance?: All traders must obtain Public Liability Insurance before their application can be processed. Your insurance must have a minimum cover of £5,000,000 which is a standard cover.

Please note that any insurance documentation under a company trading name, will have to be supported with proof of the named trader of that company ie. A Companies House confirmation of named owner of the company.

As a local authority we are unable to recommend any third party services.

Q6. How do I pay for the Street Trading Reserve List Fee?: A payment of £10 is made online in full via credit/debit card at the time of your Reserve List Registration.

Q7. What does the Reserve Fee List Fee cover?: The Reserve List Fee simply covers the cost of administration and communications. Registering onto the Reserve List does not guarantee you a trading site at Carnival.

Q8. When will the Reserve List receive a Street Trading Application?: The Street Trading application will be sent out to the registered Reserve List email addresses at the same time. This process begins once the Priority Bookings for past traders has started - traders on the Reserve List should expect to receive an invitation to apply in June.

Q9. Once I receive my application form, what happens next?: Sites are allocated on a first come first serve basis once the reserve list applications are sent out. The quicker you return your completed application and supporting documents, the more likely you are to be offered a site. See Q2 for documents required to support your application.

Q10. When and how can I pay for the licence fee?: Payment for the street trading licence is made online on approval of the application by the Notting Hill Carnival Street Trading Team. Payment is made in full via credit/debit card (we do not accept American Express cards). On approval , traders will also be required to select and book onto a mandatory Carnival Training Course. Only once the above has been successfully completed will the trader be issued their Licence for their site.

Information about the Carnival Training Course will be sent out on approval of the application. This course will include information from Environmental Health, the Metropolitan Police ACT Awareness and the London Fire Brigade.

Q11. Are stalls provided to traders?: No, traders must provide their own stalls, ensuring that they have stalls suitable to conduct their trading. The stall, equipment and canopy (if using one) must fit within the designated area given. Stalls must be of metal construction, capable of bearing the weight of all equipment and products. It must have a roof cover on the top and ideally three sides.

Q12. Are traders provided with water?: There are currently 26 static drinking water units, positioned in the Carnival Footprint for the sole use of our traders. We advise all traders to provide their own water provision, supplementing it via the provided water units. The water units are refilled each morning of Carnival weekend.

Q13. Are traders provided with electric?: Currently the Council does not provide electricity for Carnival Street Traders. Traders will need to provide their own power supply by a generator (see Q14 for generator information).

Q14. What type of generator do I need and where can I get one?: The London Fire Brigade recommend all traders use diesel generators as they generally require less refuelling and the fuel is more stable. Generators can be hired from any reputable hire company. Your annual generator certificate will need to be provided on request. Petrol generators are not permitted. All generators must fit within the trader allocated pitch size.

Q15. What are the trading hours?: The Street Trading Licence is valid between 7am and 8pm and trading can only be carried out between these times. All traders must cease trading at 8pm each day.

Q16. Vehicle Access

Vehicle Access Pass (VAP)

In order to enter the Carnival footprint with a vehicle, you will require a Vehicle Access Pass (VAP). Vehicle access is only possible at the allocated entry points between the times of 6am and 8.30am on Sunday and Monday of the Carnival event.
To apply for your VAP, the mandatory documents must be submitted by Friday 5th August 2022.

driver's name
driver's address
driver's date of birth
driver’s driving licence number
vehicle registration number

You will be required to submit all of the above details prior to the Carnival event in order to be issued with a VAP. However, if you do not know your vehicle registration number until closer to the event date or until you collect a hired vehicle, you can submit this information to us up to the day before (deadline is Saturday 20th August 2022 before 1pm).

Ultra Low Emission Zone

We would like to gently remind all Street Traders that the Notting Hill Carnival sits withinTFL’s Ultra Low Emission Zone which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year (except Christmas Day). For more information about the daily charge and whether your vehicle meets the ULEZ emissions standard please visit the TFL website.

Q17. Is parking provided to street traders?: No, all traders' vehicles must be removed from the Carnival area by 8.30am (this time is subject to the event schedule and may be liable to change).

Q18. Can I bring a vehicle into the carnival area to store stock?: No, all vehicles must be removed from the Carnival area. The stall, stock and trading must be kept fully contained with the designated pitch size.

Q19. What are the pitch sizes and what can they be used for?: There are five types of pitch sizes at Notting Hill Carnival (sizes shown as width x dept[h).

4m x 2m

No cooking or reheating is allowed on these sites.

4m x 3m & 4m x 4m

These sites are recommended traders selling a small amount of goods or concentrating on a particular product, with minimal equipment and stock. This site is available for smaller scale cooking.

6m x 3m & 4m x 5m

These sites are recommended for traders who require a lot of space for equipment and stock. Traders wanting to bring large jerk pans and BBQs would be advised to apply for these larger-sized sites.

Ice Cream/Mobile Units 10m x 2m

These sites are for ice cream vans or mobile units only. No trading stalls other than those listed on the Licence are able to use the site. Any trader found to be sub-letting their site will be evicted from the event. Ice cream sites are positioned at key exit points within the Notting Hill Carnival area. The unit must be able to move immediately if needed. Tow bars and generators must fit within the traders designated pitch size.

Q20. How much does it cost to have a site at Notting Hill Carnival?

Sites for Notting Hill Carnival 2022 are £49 per square metre. There are no discounts available.

Type of pitch	Size	Fee
Smallest - No cooking or reheating	4m x 2m	£392
Medium	4m x 3m	£588
Medium	4m x 4m	£784
Large	6m x 3m	£882
Largest	4m x 5m	£980
Ice cream / mobile units only	10m x 2m	£980

Q21. What is the Carnival Cancellation and Refund Policy?: Cancellation will be accepted in writing and a refund will be issued when notice is received 4 weeks or more prior to the Carnival Opening Day on Sunday 28th August 2022.

Any cancellations requests received with less than 4 weeks notice will be considered on a case by case basis.

If a License is revoked for failing to comply with Licence Standard Conditions, no refund will be issued.

Should the event be cancelled due to external factors, such as natural disaster to local danger to global pandemic, refunds will be issued to all License Holders.

If you have any further enquiries please email the Carnival Street Trading Team at [email protected]. Please outline your needs and any images or details that will assist us in responding to you. Please allow for five working days fur us to respond to your email.

Other useful information for street trading at Notting Hill Carnival

All street traders trading within the Royal Borough must comply with our street trading standards.

Requirements for hygiene, food safety and structural standards

Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 Markets Stalls, Mobile Vehicles, etc

Requirements for a Catering Stall

Paragraph 1:

The premises should be sited, designed, constructed and kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition, to avoid risk of contamination, in particular by animals and pests (including the provision of canopy, etc):

Fully covered to the top and sides, including the food preparation, food storage areas and the wash-up areas
All surfaces should be smooth, impervious
All surfaces should be clean and in good repair

Paragraph 2:

(a) Appropriate personal hygiene facilities, as appropriate, for the hygienic washing and drying of hands, hygienic sanitary arrangements and changing facilities (for example, provision of wash hand basin with hot/cold water, liquid soap, paper towels and/or antibacterial hand-wipes):

A basin or sink must be provided with an instant supply of hot and cold water with drainage facilities (Thermos flasks of hot water and hot water from a kettle are NOT acceptable)
Soap must be provided for the hygienic cleaning of hands (ideally antibacterial liquid soap)
Paper towels for hygienic drying of hands must be provided
Alcohol based hand gel/sanitiser or wipes may be used to supplement other means of hand wash facilities

(b) Food contact surfaces must be in a sound condition and be easy to clean and disinfect. Surfaces should be smooth, washable, corrosion-resistant and nontoxic (e.g. stainless steel, plastic chopping boards, etc):

Smooth, washable chopping boards or worktops must be provided
There must be adequate separation between raw and cooked/ready-toeat foods

(c) Adequate provision should be made for the cleaning and disinfecting of work equipment and utensils (e.g. provision of hot/cold water and sanitiser):

A sink unit must be provided for the hygienic washing of work equipment and utensils with an instant supply of hot and cold water
Sink units must drain hygienically to a waste water container (large open buckets, dustbins, plastic crates and similar are NOT acceptable as this will present a significant manual handling risk)
Detergent and sanitiser must be provided
Clean, preferably disposable cloths should be provided

(d) Where foodstuffs are cleaned as part of the food business’ operations, adequate provisions should be made for this to be undertaken hygienically (e.g. thorough washing of vegetables, salad ingredients, etc with potable water):

A sink unit with drinking/potable water should be provided for washing food, e.g. salad ingredients
Sink units must drain hygienically to a waste water container (large open buckets, dustbins, plastic crates and similar are NOT acceptable as this will present a significant manual handling risk)

(e) An adequate supply of hot/cold potable water should be available (e.g. mains or bottled drinking water):

Mains piped drinking water or bottled water should be provided to the catering premises
Waste water should discharge into a proper drainage system where available. Alternatively, closed holding containers with adequate capacity may be used with arrangements for having the containers emptied

(f) Adequate arrangements and/or facilities for the hygienic storage and disposal of hazardous and/or inedible substances and waste (whether liquid or solid) are to be available (e.g. storage or collection of waste water, waste food, etc):

Sealed containers should be provided for waste water, as this must NOT be poured onto the ground, into surface water systems or into a watercourse
Refuse sacks or containers should be provided for waste food and packaging
Arrangements should be in place for the correct disposal of waste food
Fats, oils and grease must be disposed of appropriately and not put into waste water containers and/or into the drainage system
Evidence of suitable disposal/collection methods, e.g. waste transfer notes from a licensed waste collection contractor (check with the Environment Agency)

(g) Adequate facilities and/or arrangements for maintaining and monitoring suitable food temperature conditions are to be available (e.g. the use of a hotplate, hot cupboard or bain-marie and the use of a thermometer to check temperatures):

Refrigerated equipment must be provided to ensure food can be stored at a temperature of 8oC or below (cool boxes MAY be used in place of refrigeration ONLY if the effectiveness of such storage can be demonstrated)
Hot-holding equipment such as hotplates, hot-cupboards or a bainmarie should be provided to ensure that hot food is stored or displayed at a temperature at or above 63oC
Thermometers must be provided to monitor the temperatures of chilled, cooked and hot-held food

(h) Foodstuffs should be protected from risk of contamination (e.g. provision of lidded storage containers, etc):

Food must NOT be placed directly onto the floor
Food should be placed in clean, lidded food storage containers away from sources of contamination
Raw food must be kept separate from cooked/ready-to-eat food
Food should be protected from public touching, coughing or sneezing
Clean, protective clothing should be worn by staff
Vehicles used for transporting foodstuffs to the market must be kept clean and in good repair

Requirements for a low risk food retail stall (e.g no catering or heating of food but selling for example sweets and cakes

Paragraph 1:

Canopy to the top (and ideally three other sides) to protect food from contamination
All surfaces should be clean and in good repair
All surfaces should be smooth and washable

Paragraph 2:

(i) Appropriate personal hygiene facilities, as appropriate, for the hygienic washing and drying of hands, hygienic sanitary arrangements and changing facilities (for example, provision of wash hand basin with hot/cold water, liquid soap, paper towels and/or antibacterial hand-wipes):

Antibacterial hand wipes

(j) Food contact surfaces must be in a sound condition and be easy to clean and disinfect. Surfaces should be smooth, washable, corrosion-resistant and nontoxic (e.g. stainless steel, plastic chopping boards, etc):

Clean, washable surfaces in a sound and easy to clean condition

(k) Adequate provision should be made for the cleaning and disinfecting of work utensils and equipment (e.g. provision of hot/cold water and sanitiser):

Sanitiser
Clean cloths or
Antibacterial surface wipes

Container used for the storage of waste food and packaging

(h) Foodstuffs should be protected from risk of contamination (e.g. provision of lidded storage containers, etc):

Bread, cakes and other ‘ready-to-eat’ foods should NOT be stored directly onto the public highway or pavement
Bread, cakes and other ‘ready-to-eat’ food should ideally be covered to ensure protection from sources of contamination.

Last updated: 17 June 2022

Street trading at Notting Hill Carnival

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