Fears that the "credit crunch" would cramp Carnival style, would seem to have been unfounded as around 250,000 people turned out to revel in the Children's Day Parade yesterday. There was a year on year increase in arrests with 98 people nicked and 7 pit bull type dogs confiscated but police were keen to stress this was a result of "proactive policing" rather than an increase in criminal activity. Carnival spirit appeared to be on......

Decades ago, Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove was the hippest part of London: a warren of squats, not quite legal after-hours drinking dens, hippies, proto-punks and political activists. This exhibition at London Print Studio is a commemoration of the posters and printed ephemera of this scene shown along side similar artwork from around the world and from more recent times. This is art born out of necessity; work that says it doesn't actually have to be......

One of the most thrilling aspects of live comedy is surely its intimacy. When you watch a big act in a small room, a charming comic can make you believe that they are there just for you, as if the jokes they tell were being told exclusively for your pleasure. There's a new club in town that is trying to go one step further. Anthology is a night in Portabello Green W10 which does......

The Rushes are Gerard, Dan, Joe and James and they've just been signed by Island Records. They're in the process of making their 1st album between studios in Ladbroke Grove and Clapham and make emotional piano lead pop that will probably be everywhere by this time next year. We particularly like "What U Waitin For" -have a listen. So here's your chance to catch them early, The Rushes are supporting Turin Brakes on Thursday......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 1st October 1868: St. Pancras Station is officially opened as the London terminus for the Midland Railway, despite its construction being incomplete. Part of the buildings would form the iconic gothic St. Pancras Chambers, which housed the Midland Grand Hotel. Tuesday – 2nd October 1909: Twickenham Stadium hosts its first ever rugby match, with Harlequins beating Richmond 14-10. Wednesday – 3rd October 1975: After three days of......

The third of our interviews with the Tory candidates for London Mayor. Previously, Victoria Borwick and Andrew Boff. Warwick Lightfoot has, no doubt, spent a lifetime tolerating jibes about his Tolkeinesque name. He's also acquired an outstanding CV that includes stints as Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea, Special Advisor to the Chancellor and 20 years experience as a councillor. Most impressively of all, he's the first Tory candidate to admit to vomiting on the......

We thought we’d take a break from linking up Onionbagblog, and instead sample a scallion of a different persuasion. Olly’s Onions serves up small helpings of news in a satirical sauce. A bit like The Onion, then. (What is this connection between bulbous edibles and current affairs piss-takes?) This week, Olly drops by a trendy boozer: The White Swan just off Ladbroke Grove has been serving a loyal clientele for decades, but since it......

The trial of the City lawyer who was stabbed outside Kensal Green underground starts today and already we've learned his attackers used his phone to call their girlfriends. Also on trial today: Three 17-year-olds and a 15-year-old, accused of murdering Zainab Kalokoh during a christening in Peckham. The 33-year-old was shot dead while cradling a baby. Network Rail have pleaded guilty to charges related to the 1999 Ladbroke Grove crash. They now face an......

The imminent Carnival reminded us that we don't get to explore the streets of west London as often as we'd like. One person who certainly does, though, is Zef. The walls of Ladbroke Grove are festooned with his stencilwork, particularly the gun logo, shown on the left here. There are a few more examples if you Google around. Has anyone spotted a Zef outside of W10?......

Everyone knows what you call a dog with four dicks, but how about a boar with six legs? We recently spotted this curious anatomical specimen while in a certain Ladbroke Grove hostelry. Looks like most of the poor chap has gone into the pub’s sausages. What’s left gestures threateningly, as if spoiling for a fight. So is this some kind of porcine umbrella rack, a discarded costume from Dr Who or just a bit......

With the polls opening at 7am tomorrow (they are open til 10pm, so there is no excuse not to vote!), Londonist provides you with the third entry for our local elections competition. This time courtesy of Hans Sloane: The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea With Sloane Square, Harrods and a palace or two within its boundaries, it's no surprise that Kensington and Chelsea is dominated by Tory councillors - 42 out of 54......

The Londonist Literary List appears every Tuesday. If you’d like to bring an event to our attention, please email londonistlit@gmail.com. Among the treats available to lit lovers this week are a reading in a cemetery, a reading in Shakespeare's Globe, and if you're willing to travel to Oxford, a whole slew of famous faces over the next couple of days... Events Around London (and Beyond): The Oxford Literary Festival continues through tomorrow (the 29th),......

Damon "Blur / Gorrillaz / "I've worked with musicians in Africa" Albarn is to use his musical genius in creating a new stage musical. Londonist loves musicals (when they're not by Mick Hucknall) so we welcome this new venture from Albarn who can be relied upon to take this opportunity to not simply re-issue old hits with new dance routines, but instead actually come up with interesting and exciting new work. It helps that......

No individual will face charges over the Ladbroke Grove rail crash. One of the men accused of murdering John Monckton has claimed he's been framed and was never at the scene of the crime. A "drunken end-of-term rampage" by LSE students has caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage to the English department of King’s College. Apparently it was a 'drunken conga' which sparked the whole thing off. A Titian painting found in a......

- What are you going to do today, Brain? - The same thing I do every day, Pinky. Complain to London Underground. Get to tube station on time, in fact, early, meaning to get to work and knock off early. Discover that there are 'minor delays on the Hammersmith and City Line'. Wait. Train comes, packed to the gills (if trains had gills - do any land animals have gills? I believe grasshoppers and......

With Halloween traditionally a time for some serious gig going spectaculars, this year's a little bit of a damp squib, what with Marilyn Manson retiring from creeping folks out and concentrating on his new make up range and his Alma Mater, Alice Cooper, not yet in town, it would seem as if we're going to have to keep the Slipknot masks in the drawer for another year. There are some big shows in town......

Well if there is one thing guaranteed to drive the final nail into Old Street's credibility coffin then this would be it. According to the ever-reliable 3am girls over at the Mirror Mariah Carey is on the look out for a London living space, and has "instructed her people to look for places in Ladbroke Grove and around Old Street. She loves the warehouses as they remind her of the lofts in New York.......