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The carnival that set everyone free

The annual two-day festival, which features elaborate floats and processions of brightly dressed calypso dancers, calls itself Europe's largest street festival.

This year's theme, 'Set All Free', commemorates the 200 years since Britain's abolition of the slave trade.

Police said about 250,000 people attended the first day of the festival on Sunday, which featured a children's parade. Police estimated 600,000 turned out on Monday, a public holiday, as London enjoyed a sunny long weekend after a summer of rain.

Revellers sampled West Indian food and danced to reggae, soca and calypso rhythms as the procession wound its way through the narrow streets of west London.

"This is London at its best - people all getting on together," said Chris Jenkins, 35, an IT consultant from London.

London police reported 165 arrests by Monday evening, most for minor offenses. There had been 178 reported crimes by Monday evening, down from 238 during the same period last year, police said.

Security at the event has been high since two people were killed and several assaulted in 2000. This year's largely peaceful event saw isolated acts of violence. On Monday, a teenager suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and a man was in stable condition in a hospital after being stabbed Sunday.

Launched in 1964 with a few Trinidadian steel bands, the carnival has grown into a major street event that lures partygoers from all over the world.