WATCH: Twelfth parades taking place across Northern Ireland
18 venues playing host to tens of thousands of Orange Order members
Last updated 12th Jul 2019
Tens of thousands of Orange Order members have taken to the streets of Northern Ireland for the traditional annual Twelfth parades.
They are meeting up at 'field' locations where they will be hearing speeches and prayers delivered by senior Orangemen.
The longest parade is in Belfast and dozens of bands are taking part.
Numerically, though, the largest demonstration will be in Tandragee where all the Orange Order members in Co Armagh will gather.
A total of 5,000 are expected to attend.
A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the Cenotaph at Belfast City Hall.
The parade in the south Tyrone village of Augher sees Orange Order members getting in the mood for the forthcoming Open golf championship being played at Portrush on the north coast.
The vast majority of parades are peaceful.
Over the years there have been many volatile flashpoints involving Orange lodges and nationalist residents.
The best-known include the Garvaghy Road/Drumcree dispute in Portadown, the Ormeau Road in south Belfast and the Ardoyne/Woodvale interface in north Belfast.
A temporary truce was agreed at Ardoyne pending a broader resolution.
Stormont leaders have previously agreed to eventually take on the responsibility for parading issues from the Government, potentially replacing the Parades Commission with a new model.
That plan was subsequently consumed by the wider political fallout at Stormont and is now well and truly on ice amid the ongoing absence of powersharing.
A Stormont-established working group set up to examine ways to deal with the thorny issues of flags, identity, culture and tradition has made little progress.
A lack of devolved government means there is little prospect of any emerging recommendations being implemented in the short-term.