It's the world's most colourful of carnivals, and this year the celebrations have begun at Terminal 5's international arrivals area, in preparation for the main event this Bank Holiday weekend.

Passengers have also been treated to a pop-up exhibition by internationally celebrated carnival artist, Carl Gabriel.

Over one million people are expected to attend this year's event in which more than 50,000 dancers and singers will perform

Launched in 1964 the Notting Hill Carnival continues to lure partygoers from all over the world to enjoy the sounds of Caribbean music.  Over one million people are expected to attend this year's event in which more than 50,000 dancers and singers will perform.

Heathrow, which flies 68 million people to and from the world's biggest cities every year, is expecting more than 840,000 passengers to travel through Heathrow over the August bank holiday weekend.

Malcolm Robertson of Heathrow said: “We want to provide our passengers with an immediate sense that they have landed in London, and bringing the Notting Hill Carnival to international arrivals is one way of doing just that.  We hope our lively and colourful welcome will give passengers arriving at Heathrow a taste of London's most vibrant celebration of diversity, colour and sound and encourage them to explore the many exciting cultural events the UK has to offer this autumn.”

Director of Notting Hill Carnival and Heathrow employee, Ancil Barclay said: “I am excited to bring the spirit of carnival to Heathrow today. Notting Hill Carnival is one of the most exciting events in London and I hope that people arriving will be among the attendees for this weekend's festival.”