Everybody loves a parade, and that was the case in Nanaimo this past weekend.
Nanaimo Heritage Days took place on Sunday (May 21). The parade, which featured floats, marching bands, motorcades, dancers and clowns, was a great success, according to organizers.
“I am very pleased. It was a phenomenal success,” said Peter Urquhart, organizer and member of the Nanaimo Heritage Days Society.
According to Urquhart, roughly 2,000 people attended the event, which saw a parade march down Commercial Street and live music and activities at Maffeo Sutton Park and Diana Krall Plaza. He said the attendance numbers were what they were expecting.
“We figured it would be somewhere around that number,” he said.
Urquhart said the only criticism that he heard from people was about the lack of fireworks.
“People were disappointed that there weren’t fireworks,” he said.
This is the first year that the Nanaimo Heritage Days Society has organized the event, which can trace its origins back to 1863. The society was formed earlier this year and only had three months to organize.
Despite the short notice, Urquhart said he believes the event’s success address concerns that some residents may have had about what the May long weekend parade would look like under a new organizer.
“There will probably some people who were hesitant with what this event might look like but I think we have quashed any of those concerns,” he said
Urquhart said with one Heritage Days event under its belt, the society will hold a debriefing meeting later this month to go over what worked and what didn’t. He said organizers will begin planning next year’s event in a few months’ time.
“In September we are going to have a kickoff meeting and that is when we will set everything down for what happens next year,” he said.
Urquhart said it’s too early to determine what Heritage Days will look like in 2018. He said with more time to plan, the event will run a lot more efficiently and be even more successful.
“Everything should be able to work a lot smoother,” he said.
-files from Greg Sakaki.
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