Children’s Day Parade winds through London as part of Notting Hill Carnival

Bright smiles, detailed costumes and plenty of dancing was seen as the Children’s Day Parade wound its way through west London.

The carnival, Europe’s biggest street party and an annual extravaganza over the summer bank holiday weekend, helps celebrate Caribbean culture and history.

Organisers, who billed the carnival as “the greatest community-led event on the planet,” said of the children’s parade: “It’s an undeniable joy to see the next generation carrying the carnival baton – dancing in the streets wearing their carefully crafted costumes.”

Children’s day took place on Sunday and is followed by the main event on Monday.

The 72 people who died in the Grenfell Tower fire, in a nearby block of flats in North Kensington in June 2017, were honoured in a 72-second silence which began at 3pm.

A shout-out was sent to all revellers, participating bands and sound systems to help the community pay its respects and observe the silence.

It is expected that more than two million people are set to take to the streets of west London this bank holiday weekend as the Notting Hill Carnival celebrates two landmark anniversaries.

The introduction of sound systems and Mas bands 50 years ago transformed it into a large-scale event and the docking of the Empire Windrush 75 years ago heralded mass immigration from the Caribbean.