The carnival, which has been held every year since 1966, is an opportunity for the city's black community to celebrate their Caribbean roots with music, dancing and traditional food.
Earlier this week the Met was heavily criticized after it carried out drug raids across London and tried to link them to the carnival.
On Tuesday, August 22, grime artist Stormzy tweeted sarcastically and since then many people on social media have mocked the force's linking of drug raids and the phrase "in the run-up to the Notting Hill Carnival".
How many drugs did you lot seize in the run up to Glastonbury or we only doing tweets like this for black events? https://t.co/v7XYvSg29t
— #GSAP (@Stormzy1) 22 August 2017
But this year's event, taking place on Sunday, August 27, and Bank Holiday Monday, August 28, will literally be held in the shadow of a disaster.
In the early hours of June 14 a blaze broke out and rapidly spread through the 24-story tower block in north Kensington, west London. Eighty people died, many more were injured and dozens were made homeless.
The blackened hulk of the tower remains and is visible from the route of the carnival.
In July, it was announced that it would be surrounded the building with scaffolding and then a special wrapping material during August, prior to further forensic work and would be finally demolished next year.
But the Metropolitan Police told Sputnik the wrapping would not be erected in time for the carnival.
#LNHCET pays tribute to #Grenfell victims with #prayer #doves and national and international #performances — Sunday 27th — CHILDREN 's DAY. pic.twitter.com/yJHDw4VWVl
— NottingHill Carnival (@tLNHCarnival) 22 August 2017
On both the Sunday and the Monday the carnival will be silenced to pay a minute's silence to the dead.
Of those who died, only 53 have been formally identified, with many burned beyond recognition or reduced to ashes by a blaze which reached thousands of degrees Celsius.
Further victim of #GrenfellTower formally identified as 50-year-old Ernie Vital https://t.co/ui9ky8PXue pic.twitter.com/jawEHMLWh8
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 23, 2017
A team of forensic scientists and scenes of crime officers are still poring through the rubble in the tower and detectives are conducting a criminal investigation into whether any individual or organization is responsible for corporate manslaughter or other charges.
In the run up to #NottingHillCarnival my almond milk finished but I want bran flakes so I might risk it and use dairy milk instead https://t.co/kzpFdRb059
— Tania Nwachukwu (@gwehgweh1) 22 August 2017
"Work will pause inside Grenfell Tower over the August bank holiday. This is due to the practical difficulties to access to the site caused by the infrastructure needed to host the Notting Hill Carnival. On Tuesday, 29 August work will recommence," said a Metropolitan Police spokesman.
"We have made changes to our policing operation for this year's Carnival to ensure that the local area around Grenfell Tower has extra officers on duty and protective barriers in place. This is to make sure that the security of the Grenfell Tower site is maintained and to protect the many items and memorials that have been placed near to Grenfell Tower," he added.
In the run up to #NottingHillCarnival I brushed my teeth with Colgate toothpaste this morning 🤷🏾♂️ yeah and…. https://t.co/iyEdQqiaK7
— #TNO (@CreepaClinton) 22 August 2017
At a public meeting in July, the police's site manager, Michael Lockwood, said he expected the building would only disappear from the skyline late next year.
"Towards the end of 2018 I think we could start to bring it down, if that is what the community wants, and the scaffolding will help us to do that because we can do that within the wrap," he said.
