Extra Queen’s Jubilee event trip

The cost of sponsoring the Notting Hill Carnival will more than triple this year because a second carnival is being launched to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

Organiser the Notting Hill Carnival Trust is asking for &£1.8m to sponsor the two events, compared with &£500,000 for last year’s single event. It hopes to strike a deal by the end of January and is in talks with a variety of companies including last year’s sponsor Western Union.

The new package will include sponsorship of a two-day carnival on June 4 and June 5, which will form part of the main Jubilee celebrations in central London. Sponsorship will include signs on floats, a live stage and clothing.

The annual event, attended by 2 million people, will go ahead as usual in West London on August 24 to August 26 and will be covered by BBC2.

A preview event showing the sponsor’s branded clothing will take place in the Royal Opera House the week before the carnival. This will also be part of the sponsorship.

The search for a sponsor is being managed by sports and arts marketing consultancy Harwood and Company and second-tier sponsorships are also being negotiated.

Western Union sponsored the event in a three-year deal, which ended last year. The event costs up to &£10m to organise.