Thousands of Orangemen are taking part in the annual Twelfth of July parades across Northern Ireland.
A total of 550 parades are due to take place on Friday. Londonderry will host the flagship procession.
It comes against a backdrop of tension over a parade in north Belfast.
Marchers will not be allowed to walk along part of the Crumlin Road that separates nationalist and loyalist communities.
RulingThe Parades Commission, a body set up to rule on contentious parades in Northern Ireland, has said Orangemen can walk on the stretch of the road that goes past Ardoyne in the morning, but not in the evening.
In recent years there has been serious rioting in the nationalist Ardoyne area following the return leg of the parade.
The morning parade is underway.
A short time ago it was temporarily was blocked by police just before it reached the Ardoyne shops.
This was because there were many more supporters accompanying the bands than had been allowed by the Parades Commission ruling, which limited followers of the lodges and band to 100.
After hundreds of supporters withdrew, police allowed the marchers to proceed.
The parade passed the Ardoyne shops without incident, shortly after 09:00 BST.
Nationalist residents from the Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective (GARC) are staging a small protest in the area, amid a heavy police presence.
GARC were one of two residents' groups from the Ardoyne that had planned larger protests against the parade, which is a so-called feeder march for the Ligoneil lodges taking part in the main Belfast demonstration.
However, after the Parades Commission ruling on Wednesday evening, both GARC and Crumlin and Ardoyne Residents' Association (CARA) called off their larger demonstrations.
When it cancelled its protest, GARC indicated that a smaller morning protest, scheduled to coincide with the lodges' outward journey, would still go ahead.
CommemorationThe marching season is a period of events from April to August, with the highpoint on 12 July when Orangemen march to commemorate William of Orange's victory over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland in 1690.
William III is revered by the order as a champion of his faith and the man who secured the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland. They commemorate his victory in their annual parades.
Many Catholics see the marches as triumphalist and sectarian with some traditional Orange routes passing through or past areas occupied mainly by Catholics and nationalists.
The Parades Commission ruling on the north Belfast parade has been welcomed by nationalist politicians but has angered unionists.
DebateThe Democratic Unionist Party said the Parades Commission decision was rewarding riotous behaviour by dissident republicans after shots were fired during the trouble that followed last year's march.
The party requested that the Northern Ireland Assembly be recalled to debate the ruling. That debate is arranged for Tuesday 16 July.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland called the Parades Commission's decision "ludicrous" and damaging to community relations, but Sinn Féin called it a sensible decision.
On Thursday, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said she had no power to intervene over the Parades Commission's decision.
"The only power I have to intervene and override a Parades Commission determination is if I receive an application asking me to do that from the chief constable," Ms Villiers said.
'Historic'"He has not sent me such an application and so I don't in this case have any power over the decision that has been made by the Parades Commission.
"He (the chief constable) certainly made it clear he had no intention of sending me such an application."
PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott said 43 of the parades due to take place on 12 July - the height of the marching season - were "sensitive".
He has drafted in an extra 630 police officers from across Britain to support the police in Northern Ireland in the event of rioting.
Speaking about this year's 12 July parades, Dr David Hume, the Orange Order's director of services, said they were delighted that Londonderry, the UK City of Culture, would host the main march.
"The organisers of the Twelfth in Londonderry are offering a varied festival and their demonstration takes place in one of the most historic venues in Ulster.
"We are encouraging the Orange Twelfth hosts, who will be trained to act as ambassadors for the event on the day, to engage with local hoteliers and those involved in the tourist industry," he said.
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