Carnival route remains unchanged

The carnival is worth about £90m to the London economy

The route to this year's Notting Hill Carnival will remain unchanged, organisers have announced.

Speaking at the event's official launch, organisers said the traditional parade route would continue through Notting Hill.

Critics have said the narrow streets of the area are too cramped and dangerous for the crowds that attend.

In 2005, London's mayor introduced a separate event in Hyde Park which drew criticism from some supporters.

Slavery and leukaemia

This will continue with the Panorama event - a steel band competition taking place in Hyde Park on the Saturday before the carnival.

The theme for this year's carnival, to run on 26 and 27 August, is Set All Free.

"The theme for Carnival 2007, has a very serious message," said Notting Hill Carnival's chairman, Professor Chris Mullard.

"We mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade and acknowledge that slavery continues around the world today in many forms."

About 2m visitors are expected to attend the carnival over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Based on previous figures, visitors are expected to consume about five tonnes of chicken, one tonne of rice and peas and 25,000 bottles of rum, said organisers.

Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "I am very pleased to be backing the carnival again, particularly in the year that we are marking the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in England."

The official charity of this year's carnival is the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT). The trust hopes the high-profile boost will encourage more black and mixed race people to donate their bone marrow to leukaemia sufferers.

It said black people are currently 20,000 times less likely than white people to find a successful match from a bone marrow donor.