Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games begin at Celtic Park

                                          The Loch Ness Monster takes centre stage

The 20th Commonwealth Games kicked off to a spectacular opening ceremony in front of 40,000 people at Celtic Park in Glasgow. 71 nations, who will compete across 17 sports over the next 11 days, witnessed an electrifying atmosphere when Glasgow put together a good show on Wednesday night.

While world-renowned Scottish singers Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle performed live at the ceremony, at the same time six-time Olympic champion Chris Hoy also made an appearance at the home of Celtic Football Club.

The Queen officially opened the games before a 40,000-strong crowd in Glasgow's Celtic Park with millions more expected to watch on television. The Queen declared the Games open by reading her own message from inside the Commonwealth baton.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond paid tribute to the victims of the crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine last week, leading a silence before welcoming the participating nations to the Games in English and Gaelic. The Malaysian team wore black armbands as a tribute to those who lost their lives.

Thousands of athletes from 71 nations and territories took part. They entered the stadium after the live show, which had a cast of around 2,000.

India, the hosts of the previous Games in Delhi in 2010, were the first team to enter the arena and received a warm welcome. The remainder of the competing nations arrived according to geographical region.

Ghana was the third African country to enter the arena led by sprint queen Janet Amponsah and would be competing in eleven disciplines including shooting in the eleven-day event.

The loudest reception of the night was reserved for the host nation Scotland, who paraded into Celtic Park last, according to Games tradition.

The opening ceremony was also available live on Youtube, for the first time in any Common Wealth Games.

The Games will feature 17 sports beginning on Thursday. The closing ceremony will take place at Hampden Park on the south side of the city, which has been transformed into an athletics venue, on 3 August.