The festivities kick off in Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park with the Panorama Steelpan competition — a jewel in the crown of Carnival. This year will incorporate for the first time Junior Panorama, which will be shining a spotlight on the next generation of pan talent. Tickets for the whole evening are on sale now (see below), gates open at 4pm with Junior Panorama starting at 5pm and the main Panorama competition at 8pm.

Throughout the year all across the UK steel bands have been rehearsing and fine tuning their skills for this very important date on the pan lovers’ calendar – one of the largest steel pan competitions outside of the Caribbean.

The UK national panorama Steel Band competition sees bands play a ten minute composition from memory – no sheet music is allowed.

Panorama competitions are traditionally open-air events and Notting Hill Carnival's Panorama is no exception. Watch the sun set, eat Caribbean street food and enjoy the sweet sound of pan while the steel bands get on with the serious business of impressing the judges. The Steel Bands will proudly hold their ranked titles until next year… when we do it all again.