Down­town Port-of-Spain was the cen­tre of colour, en­er­gy and ex­cite­ment as scores of chil­dren took to the streets to frol­ic for this year’s Ju­nior Pa­rade of the Bands, leav­ing a trail of con­fet­ti, shin­ing dust and smil­ing faces in their wake.

From as ear­ly as 8 am, mu­sic trucks, ju­nior mas­quer­aders, band lead­ers, and par­ents packed St Vin­cent and Ed­ward Streets for last-minute prepa­ra­tions and cos­tume ad­just­ments be­fore reach­ing the down­town judg­ing point at the Lord Kitch­en­er Stand on South Quay.

Over 77 bands of var­i­ous sizes par­tic­i­pat­ed in the pro­ces­sion as chil­dren danced, tod­dled and even car­ried across the judg­ing point by their par­ents.