Londoners enjoy St Patrick's Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square(Panasonic)

Panasonic

Thousands of Londoners lined the streets of the West End on Sunday, 14 March for the annual St Patrick's Day parade and festival, kick-starting the 2010 celebrations in flamboyant style.

Celebrations started at midday at Hyde Park Corner as the parade set off to its final destination, Trafalgar Square. Revellers basked in the sunshine as the procession - which included a colourful stream of floats, marching bands and groups representing the Irish counties - wound its way through Piccadilly. Other parading attractions included a giant St Patrick, Snake Pageant, the Emerald Queen, canine chums, cheerleaders and even eco-friendly rickshaw floats.

View photos and videos from the parade

The St Patrick's Day parade begins at London's Hyde Park Corner(Panasonic)

Panasonic

And with the parade completed, celebrations in Trafalgar Square started, combining live music, dance, crafts and food to give the crowds a taste of all things Irish. This year, the main stage hosted a special performance by Camille O'Sullivan, pop-rockers The Coronas and singer/songwriter/poet and storyteller John Spillane.

St Patrick's Day wouldn't be St Patrick's Day without some traditional Irish music and dance: this year saw toe-tapping performances from the All-Ireland champion dancers, plus a unique collaboration between Comhaltas and the Trad Gathering, featuring young traditional musicians from different music schools across London, St Albans, Luton, Cambridge, Milton Keynes and further afield.

Explore our photos of the festival, the crowds and the acts

Check out our photosynth of the St Patrick's Day festival

"Enjoy the craic!" said Mayor of London, Boris Johnson: "London would not be the place it is today without the massive contribution of Irish men and women, whose efforts and dynamism are embedded into the fabric and soul of our city. Celebrating St Patrick's Day is our way of acknowledging the best of everything Irish, and in so doing we host one of the biggest parties marking the day anywhere outside of Ireland."

Irish dancers perform in London's Trafalgar Square as part of the St Patirck's Day festival(Panasonic)

Panasonic

"I hope you all have a very happy St Patrick's Day. Lá le Pádraig sona daoibh!"

MSN UK's Creative Solutions team headed to Trafalgar Square armed with the fabulous new Lumix TZ10 to capture the event in images and video.

Check out photos from the parade and images from the festival, plus our 360 degree tour of the square.