Massive crowds of people, many in colorful costumes, turned out as the West Indian American Day parade kicked off in Brooklyn Monday.

The parade runs up Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights and draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Annual parade traditions include marchers who wear dazzling costumes, vendors who sell Caribbean food and merchandise, and floats with steel drum bands.

New York's Caribbean community has held annual Carnival celebrations since the 1920s, first in Harlem and then in Brooklyn, where festivities happen on Labor Day.