ONLY one year to go! The countdown to the Commonwealth Games has well and truly started in Bury.

Dancers and musicians took to the streets as the town hosted an outdoor party with the 2002 Manchester games on the horizon.

They entertained market day shoppers in Market Square and the Lions Garden on Wednesday (July 25), with music from Caribbean band Paradise Steel, Asian dance from Sonia Sabri, limbo dancing from African troupe Kaniki, and stiltwalking from the Commonwealth Cricketers.

Seven-year-old Mia Fielding (7) (pictured) had a go at limbo dancing with Kaniki.

And the fun continued into the evening with a party in Kay Gardens to the sounds of Buffalo Souljah and KB and the Gang.

A business awareness session was held for local firms, and residents were given the chance to sign up and become one of the many thousands of volunteers who will be needed.

Councillor John Byrne, council leader, said the Commonwealth Games was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to welcome people from around the world and to make personal and business links which would last for years afterwards.

For more information about the Games, please contact Adrian Frost, Bury's Commonwealth Games co-ordinator, on 0161 253 5897 or e-mail him at A.Frost@bury.gov.uk.