A day at the parade

Every year in October, where I am from, the city puts on a huge parade known as The Maple Leaf parade. The tradition originally started sometime in the 50's or 60's I believe, and began as a band competition but today has turned into a huge week festival. The cherry on top is the giant parade at the end of the week where 200-300 floats march on through the historic streets of the city and marching bands from all over the country come and compete. The population spikes by the thousands as so many vistors travel to join the festivities. I have been attending the parade ever since I was a little girl and building it up to my husband (we just moved to MO from AR so this was the first Maple Leaf parade he had been to) for months. We had a good time despite the sunburn on my nose!