PRETTY petals, rainbow-splashed balloons and multi-coloured streamers have popped up throughout the heart of East Oxford.

Traders embellished their windows with vibrant decorations on Sunday boasting their support for this year's Cowley Road Carnival.

The colourful celebrations marked T'riffic Traders Day, getting customers and businesses in the carnival spirit before the annual festivities return on July 2.

Designer Annie Sloan joined the cause, placing pastel-coloured flower crowns across the window of her beaming yellow shop front to parade her love for the street.

She said: "I think Cowley Road is brilliant. I love anything that supports the fact that the Cowley Road is a street full of independent stores.

"I love the fact that the Cowley Road not only has independent stores but you can get so many different foods along the street.

"We have got so many different communities. For me that is what the world is about – I love the melting pot of cultures and religions."

Tens of thousands of revellers are expected to pour into Cowley Road and its nearby streets to enjoy hours of festivities at the summer bonanza.

Ms Sloan said she is excited to see troupes of performers donning shimmering outfits as they march along Cowley Road during the carnival parade.

The East Oxford resident, who has had her flagship store in Cowley Road for about eight years, added: "We don't want to live in a world where everything is exactly the same and the fact that we have this carnival is absolutely fantastic."