Where’s the best spot to watch the floats? What’s the tastiest food? And which songs will be this year’s earworms? Our writers check out the word on the street

The parade

This is the beating heart of Notting Hill Carnival (NHC) and it’s responsible for pumping a steady flow of colour, feathers and good vibes across W10 and W11 over the August bank holiday. The parade – set to the infectious sounds of soca – is arguably the star of the weekend.

Sunday is “family day” and the bands on the road are predominantly for children. Beverly Tony, adjudicator for NHC, says: “It’s really wonderful to see the children and what they produce. They work on their costumes all year and now they get to show you their creativity.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Into the waves … Carnival in 2012. Photograph: lovemax/Getty Images

Sunday also sees adults playing “dirty mas”, the equivalent of Trinidad’s J’ouvert, where they throw paint or chocolate and dance the whole route. “It’s a great stress-relieving day,” says Tony. “Then on Monday you wear your costume (pretty mas), and it’s about expressing yourself. You feel total freedom on the road – how often do you get to do that? It’s a wonderful sight.”

And you can expect to see thousands of people in costume. Over the weekend more than 70 groups will take to the streets to “play mas” (take part in the parade). Every group has its own theme and tells a story with their costumes. Lustrous designs march en masse through the borough, each one handmade. (It’s estimated they take a total of 1m hours to make.)

Ray Mahabir, artistic director of the band Sunshine International Art, says he is obsessed by the costumes. Sunshine is one of a few bands who still manage to bring large costumes to Carnival: at 12-15ft high, these often require extensions and wheels to assist the wearer. Also adding to the spectacle are the elaborately decorated floats carrying teams of people in equally vibrant outfits – Paraíso School of Samba, the winner of last year’s decorated truck category, is one to watch out for.

This competitive side to the revelry happens by Westbourne Park tube station, where judges score all of the bands as they pass through. This makes it a great spot to catch the parade: either waiting just before the judging point for a slightly quieter viewing spot, or on the stretch afterwards, when the bands are in full swing.

Ask any regular Carnival-goer the best way to catch the parade and they will be divided in to three camps. You’ve got the “let the parade come to you” approach. To help you pick the right spot, Linett Kamala, an artist and Notting Hill Carnival trustee, says: “Arrive early, well before the crowds, to walk around the Carnival footprint.” (The parade starts at about 10.30am on both days.) As well as soaking up the anticipation, “use this time to locate the nearest toilets”, she says.

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Next, there are the “walkers” who weave through the parade route via side streets, jumping in with different bands and maybe a soundsystem or two along the way. Finally, there are those who swear the best way to see it is to be it. Melissa Simon-Hartman, an artist and costume designer, says: “Take part! Nothing beats the experience of wearing a costume and participating in a Carnival band. It is safe, fun, and you instantly become part of a new family.” Maxine-Laurie Marshall

The music: soundsystems, samba, steel bands and more

Carnival is a sensory overload, but your ears arguably get it the most. The first thing to mention are the soundsystems: 38 sets of speaker stacks installed at various points, with bass set to anywhere from nostril-tickling to aorta-collapsing.

Each “sound” is run by a different crew, many of whom – such as Volcano Sound (formerly Mangrove Sound) – have been doing this since the early 70s. African-Caribbean music is dominant – historic dub outfits such as Aba-Shanti I, King Tubby’s, and Saxon Studio play stately, skanking tracks, but even these never cleave to one style all weekend long. Classic dancehall cuts and manically energised soca – often also heard blasting from trucks on the parade route – sort the real dancers from the amateurs, and roots reggae megastars such as Koffee and Chronixx will no doubt get a good airing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Back in the day … Carnival, 1975. Photograph: Chris Steele-Perkins/Magnum photos

The entire spectrum of black British music gets a look-in, though. No Carnival trip is complete without some time spent at Rampage, the anything-goes sound where you might encounter huge US rap tracks or grime or jungle, as well as PAs from soon-to-be-massive MCs. Afrobeats and funky house are never far away, and Pineapple Tribe and others even venture into hard dance territory. Meanwhile, the Latin Rave Street Jam soundsystem does what it says on the tin, playing salsa, reggaeton and more, adding to the six Brazilian samba groups threaded among the African-Caribbean crews in the parade.

Sam Alexander, bandleader of the group Baque de Axé, explains the Latin music at Carnival: “Brazilian bands’ musical powerhouse is the drumming band that walks along the road – anywhere from 30 to 150 people in one block of drummers. As well as that there’ll be dancers, and a soundsystem – assuming a melody can be amplified above the drums!”

It’s not just the classic Rio samba sound. Other bands play reggae-influenced Latin music, while Baque de Axé will feature sub-groups playing maracatu, “the granddaddy of samba”, from north-eastern Brazil. The bands often feature talent from across the Atlantic. “You get middle-class people with the nicest drums, nicest sticks, gloves – and a gnarly favela guy next to them,” says Alexander. “The idea of cultural appropriation doesn’t occur to us, because we’re involved directly in the culture in Brazil, working with bands. We invite our teachers and masters over, and we go and visit them. We’re encouraging dialogue.”

Carnival is also the best place in the UK to watch steel pan bands. The parade route sometimes drowns them out, so the best spot to take them in is at Panorama, the biggest steel band competition in Europe. Held at Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance park on Saturday from 7pm onwards (tickets £10), bands play off against each other, performing tunes from memory.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Music to your ears … a performer in the Carnival parade. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

“It’s probably the only time most people will get to see steel bands playing in such large numbers,” says Chris Storey of the band Pan Nation. “Most people might just see a solo or duet on a cruise ship or in the Caribbean, but to see a massed steel band with 80 to 100 players is awe-inspiring.” It’s a chance, says Storey, for bands to reject “the run-of-the-mill steel band tunes: Hot Hot Hot or Yellow Bird” – Pan Nation take on everything from Drake to UK garage hits. “These are really intricate arrangements, almost like orchestral pieces,” says Storey.

Beyond the individual performances, take time to drink in the glorious ambient sound as all the music blends with other noise: car horns, vuvuzelas, the C major chord of loud happy chatter that is the bedrock of Carnival. Ben Beaumont-Thomas

The food

“Carnival is not just about jerk chicken,” says Levi Roots, who – despite making his name with jerk sauce and being a proud Jamaican – thinks that the key to the best culinary experience at Carnival is choosing lesser-known cuisine. “Jerk is very Jamaican and so are the soundsystems, the music and the noise that makes Carnival, Carnival,” says Roots. “But it is a Caribbean festival and the food is very diverse. Jerk chicken is only the Jamaican side of things. Try finding yourself something you’ve never had.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Food of the gods … cooking up jerk chicken during Carnival. Photograph: Miles Willis/Getty Images

Roots thinks that alongside staples such as jerk chicken and curried goat, festival goers should search for the Trinidadian dish, doubles. A popular street food, it’s made of spicy chickpeas on a roti topped with chutney. “It’s a wrap filled with delicious caribbean sunshine,” says Roots. “It’s vegan, too.”

Plantain chips also make good food on the go, as an easy-to-eat alternative to the traditional boiled or fried version. “There’s something called grater cake, which is a Jamaican coconut delicacy that’ll be popular as well,” says Roots, who also recommends sugar cane and jellied coconut. “That’s very popular at Carnival, and it’s always great fun to see the theatre of the guys who chop the coconut with a machete.”

For those looking for something after the music has died down, Roots recommends the long-running Turtle Bay restaurant chain – which has locations in more than a dozen UK cities – for cheap and cheerful caribbean cooking, and Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records in Shoreditch (94 Middlesex St, E1), as well as local restaurants around Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove, especially on All Saints Road.

“It’s about the islands,” says Roots, when the Guardian asks him how to find food that’s off the beaten track. “Look for where different flags are flying. That’s something brilliant about Carnival – people represent their islands and where they are from. You need to know your flags – and don’t just go to the one which is black, gold and green.”

If you’re in a rush and don’t have time to trawl the stalls and look up different flags, Roots has a solution. “I always like to find a stall that’s serving the food you love, in my case jerk chicken, and one that has the best music as well,” he says. Lanre Bakare

The Carnival essentials

Whether you come out for one day or both, you can expect to smash your 10,000 Fitbit step target, so don’t even think about wearing anything other than your most comfortable trainers. The closest stations to the action will be closed or exit only, so be prepared to walk from a little further away. Ladbroke Grove station is closed on both days, Holland Park closes at 6pm on both days, and Latimer Road will close at 11.30pm on both days. Royal Oak and Westbourne Park will be exit only from 11am – 6pm. Queen’s Park, Shepherd’s Bush, Bayswater and Paddington are the closest stations with fewer restrictions, but check TfL before you leave for the most up-to-date information.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A little girl’s stroller is decked out like a clam shell at Carnival in 2017. Photograph: Paul Davey/Barcroft Images

Expect to jump up, wine and chip down the road: it’s Carnival, so the only time you should be standing still is in in the queue for the toilet – and even then a little waistline wine wouldn’t go a miss. As well as Portaloos, many homes along the parade route and surrounding areas open their toilets for a small charge: £1 is average, but entrepreneurial spirit is driving prices up to £3 in some cases – with some even charging £5 for a fast pass to the front of the queue.

With up to 1 million people attending over the weekend, expect signal blackouts due to the crowds. So take your phone for its camera to capture the spectacular costumes, but don’t rely on it for its primary comms purposes. Arrive together, stick together and leave together. Carnival organisers have an app to make getting around easier, but download it before you head out.

Hand sanitiser and tissues should be at the top of your list of things to take, just behind cash. Be prepared for all weathers, so bring sun cream and a light rain jacket and hope you’ll only use the former.

Three songs you’re going to need to know before heading in to Carnival this year come straight from the home of Caribbean carnival – Trinidad. This year’s Road March winner Famalay (by Skinny Fabulous, Machel Montano and Bunji Garlin) and its hotly contested runner-up Savannah Grass (by Kes) will be playing proudly from all corners of Carnival. And expect the Grenadian flags to fly high when Soca Monarch 2019 Mr Killa’s Run Wid It hits the speakers.

Carnival can be great fun for children, especially on family day. But do plan and prepare as you would for any busy event. Carnival organisers advise to write your mobile number on your child’s arm, point out the stewards and explain that children should seek them out should you get separated.

Pick up a whistle or horn on your way in from one of the street vendors and don’t be afraid to make some noise, go with the flow and have a great time. But don’t forget that at 3pm on both days there will be a planned silence for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. The 72 seconds of silence will honour the 72 people who died in the tower block fire close to the parade route. This sign of respect mirrors the spirit that Carnival is known for: created by locals for the community 53 years ago, and with more than half of attendees being Londoners, the same remains true today. Maxine-Laurie Marshall