Cowley Road Carnival, Oxford, September 1st 2024

On Carnival, Cowley Road gets closed from The Plain down to near Manzil Park. A procession takes place, most of the cafés and restaurants set up street-food stalls, and there is a lot of music, usually astonishingly loud. I arrive at 11:30, look at the setting-up and people coming to the carnival, and then watch the procession from the Cowley Road Methodist Church. After the procession, I walk Cowley Road and a few side-streets to Divinity Road, where the activity ends.

The church, by Stephen Salter, is worth a look: Arts and Crafts, with a distinctive asymmetric exterior which makes interesting shapes to sketch. I was told that regular services are due to end in October, because of declining attendance. But fortunately, the building is listed, so can't be demolished.