This is the second year I have attended and photographed this great Nanaimo parade. Its a great way to spend an afternoon of photography. This year I shot the entire parade with my Sigma 50-500 and tried to concentrate more on the people enjoying and participating in the parade rather than the floats. Thankfully it was also much nicer weather than last year! The Empire Days Parade was started by English coal miners in 1863 and has run continuously since then and is a great local tradition.