More than a thousand people have taken part in a carnival parade through Belfast city centre to mark the start of a nine-day festival to celebrate global cultures and diversity.
The annual Belfast Mela Festival is the largest event of its kind in Northern Ireland.
The parade carnival set off from Belfast's Cathedral Quarter shortly after 12.30pm.
More than 20 cultural groups and performers from across the city took part, and it featured traditional music and dancing from across the world.
It is the 18th year the festival has been held and, in light of racially motivated violence across Belfast in recent weeks, organisers said it is perhaps the most important of all.
"I think it is the most important event in the calendar of Belfast and I think it should be taking place not just every year in the month of August but also a number of other times during the year just to keep giving that learning and education about diversity," said festival founder Dr Nisha Tandon.
"It's giving out that message that Belfast is a diverse city, we are here to stay, we are not going anywhere."
There were floats, sculptures and a couple of friendly dragons.
Those taking part included Weihing Qu, a member of a Chinese dance group and ArdsEkta, an organisation that aims to develop intercultural relationships.
"We are so happy and it is actually so important to be here to let the Belfast people, the north of Ireland people know all the cultures from around the world," she said.
"We are very happy to be here to help spread Chinese culture."
Another participant in the parade was Mimi Unamoyo, a member of Bomoko NI, which represents refugee and asylum seeking women in Northern Ireland.
"It's important because we have to celebrate diversity and inclusion and this is part of diversity and inclusion and it's very important for us," she said.
One of the spectators was Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, who met many of the participants when he popped into a global village set up as part of the carnival in the grounds of Belfast City Hall.
"The Belfast Mela is a wonderful celebration of colour and unity and togetherness and it celebrates all of the communities that are in Belfast and Northern Ireland," he said.
"And you know, as a contrast with the terrible events of the last month or so, this is the real Belfast, this is the real Northern Ireland, and I wanted to be here today just to join in the celebrations."
Organisers say they hope up to 60,000 people will take part in a range of festival events across the next nine days.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
