Fun in the sun at Newport Carnival - with pictures and video

From 10am on Saturday the High Street was lined with a variety of stalls and entertainers set to provide a day of enjoyment for all those in attendance.

The carnival itself was opened by Mayor Peter Scott, along with 17-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist Alice Kinsella.

The theme for this year's carnival was 'countries of the world', inspired in part by the FIFA World Cup.

The carnival parade, which started at 1pm, reflected this theme and saw over 25 floats decorated accordingly. A number of local schools, nurseries, clubs and organisations were represented in the parade, and many of the town's businesses joined in with the theme by putting on window displays.

Entertainment included a full day of live music provided by Newport Open Mic, which saw a range of local performers delight the crowd with a variety of music.

Organiser Graham Foster was delighted with the atmosphere of the day.

"This year's carnival has been a credit to the town", he said.

"The crowds for the parade were five people deep – it was absolutely fantastic."

Local businesses and charities were also keen to praise the event, which was held for only the second time in the town centre rather than in its traditional home of Shuker Field.

Norma Haycock, shop manager of Oxfam Newport, said: "It's been a wonderful day, with a great deal of camaraderie between the stall-holders. The parade itself was the best ever."

Margo Brotherton, a trustee for Newport Cottage Care, added: "The whole day has had great support from the locals. The carnival has built on last year and is going in the right direction – people have loved it."

Hannah Bulkeley-Jones, Newport, was there with her family and friends. She said: "It's been a great day– my children have really enjoyed it. It gets the whole town involved, my daughter was even on one of the floats! It's really nice to see it so busy."

Paul and Jill Frank, Newport, who were there with their grandchildren, were equally enthusiastic. Paul said: "We've had lots of entertainment and the weather has been perfect."

Jill added: "The children enjoyed it and the weather has absolutely made it."

Mr Foster praised all those in attendance for supporting the carnival and is already looking forward to next year's event.

"We can't thank the people enough who have supported the day. We're learning and building with the carnival year after year and are always looking for new people to help us with new ideas," he said.

"We hope to be able to keep the carnival running in its current form and will keep striving for it to be better each time."