How many people visit Carnival?

Estimating the total number of people who visit Carnival each August Bank Holiday is still more of an art than a science. The Panorama band contest on the Saturday evening attracts a more limited crowd than come on the Sunday and Monday. The police estimated that in 2005 there were about 250,000 on the Sunday and 500,000 on the Monday; in 2006 they estimated that there were about 330,000 on the Sunday and about 500,000 on the Monday. The media often quote attendance at Carnival as one million but this is the total over the whole weekend so is misleading in terms of the total number of people there at any one time. In spite of claims that the Carnival is getting bigger each year, whatever that means, the evidence taken over many years does not support this.