Carnival revellers squirt paint as part of colourful Caribbean celebration

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

By contributor Jordan Reynolds and Lily Shanagher, PA
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Supporting image for story: Carnival revellers squirt paint as part of colourful Caribbean celebration
People taking part in J’ouvert ahead of the Children’s Day Parade at the Notting Hill Carnival (Yui Mok/PA)

Revellers of all ages took to the streets for Notting Hill Carnival early on Sunday with a traditional, Caribbean celebration.

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

The festival began early on Sunday with the J’ouvert celebration where people covered each other in paint, coloured powder and chocolate.

People taking part in J’ouvert ahead of the Children’s Day Parade, part of the Notting Hill Carnival celebration.
People taking part in J’ouvert ahead of the children’s day parade, part of the Notting Hill Carnival celebration (Yui Mok/PA)

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

The streets are set to be flooded with colour, costumes, dancing and music.

About one million people are expected to be on the streets of west London for the event, the Metropolitan Police said previously.

About 7,000 police officers will be on duty across the capital this Sunday and Monday.

Kinetika Bloco rehearsing, ahead of the opening ceremony of the Children’s Day Parade.
Kinetika Bloco rehearsing, ahead of the opening ceremony of the children’s day parade (Yui Mok/PA)

The Met said live facial recognition (LFR) technology – which captures people’s faces in real-time CCTV cameras – will be used on the approach to and from the carnival as well as outside the boundaries of the event.

Alongside the use of LFR technology, the Met also said it planned to install screening arches at some of the busiest entry points to the carnival, where stop-and-search powers will be used in a bid to keep weapons out.

The annual celebration has been running for more than 50 years.