CINCINNATI — Opening Day may make the start of the Major League Baseball season in dozens of cities across the United States. But over the past century, the day has become bigger than just a sporting event in Cincinnati.

And a local market is a major reason why.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of baseball diehards and fans of the city will flock to downtown Cincinnati several hours before the scheduled 4:10 p.m. first pitch between the Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sports bars will be full, and Washington Park and Newport on the Levee have events going on all day. But arguably the chief attraction — for some, maybe more so than the game itself — is the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade.

Now in its 104th year, the parade begins again at Findlay Market. Up to 150,000 people are expected to line the parade route spanning portions of Race Street and Fifth Street between Over-the-Rhine to the Central Business District.

Gov. Mike DeWine and his group are among roughly 160 entries in the 2023 Findlay Market Opening Day Parade. (Casey Weldon/Spectrum News 1)

This year, more than 160 groups have signed up to walk the 1.4-mile parade route. Participants range from college and high school marching bands to professional sports teams and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. There are floats, unicyclists and a group of dads performing choreographed routines with push-type lawnmowers.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a well-known baseball fan, plans to walk with a group of 20 supporters decked out in T-shirts that read, “This fan belongs to the Reds.”

The parade starts at noon.

“It’s a tradition like no other,” said Chris Pike, marketing manager for the Cincinnati Recreation Commission. Members of his team will be scattered along the parade route this year, including CRC Director Daniel Betts.

Pike grew up in Cincinnati but lived in Florida for a few years before deciding to move back home. During his time in Florida, he saw how Opening Day gets treated in other cities, like Miami and Tampa.

“It’s night and day,” he said. “In other cities, Opening Day is a baseball game. But in Cincinnati, it’s an event.”

Showcasing the best of Cincinnati

First held in 1869, the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade is reminiscent of much larger parades in New York or Pasadena, Calif., on Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, respectively. But unlike those other events, Cincinnati’s parade isn’t celebrating a single holiday asmuch as the city where it takes place.

For Cincinnati Opera, marching in the parade is a “celebration of community and our commonality as uniquely Cincinnati traditions and institutions,” said Todd Bezold, a spokesperson for the organization.

The Reds, Findlay Market and Cincinnati Opera are some of the oldest institutions not just in the city but in the entire country, Bezold said. The Reds were the first professional baseball team, and Findlay Market is the oldest continuously operated public market in the state.

Cincinnati Opera is the second-oldest opera company in the United States.

“For generations, summer in Cincinnati has meant baseball, opera, and produce from Findlay Market,” Bezold said.

“We may seemingly be from different worlds, but we’re neighbors and we each make Cincinnati a special place to live and by bringing people together through the magic of performance, passion, and what we each produce,” he added. “We’re so proud to be a part of it all.”

Many greater Cincinnati organizations use the parade to market their services to the thousands of fans who attend every year. (Casey Weldon/Spectrum News 1)

Kelly Lanser, director of communications for the Corporation for Findlay Market, described the parade as bigger than the market or baseball.

“It brings together East siders and West siders, downtowners and suburbanites, and then you also see the excitement and creativity of all the groups and agencies involved,” she added. “It gives the everyday person access to the Cincinnati celebrities and sports stars who are just as happy to just be part of the crowd.”

Lanser feels not having entries that aren’t just a “long line of Cincinnati Reds floats and a couple of banners” is part of the reason people love the parade. She referred to it as a showcase for the “best of everything in Cincinnati.”

This year’s field includes a few nonprofits like the Dragonfly Foundation and the Anthony Muñoz Foundation, as well as quirky social groups, such as the Cincinnati Beard Barons and a group of guys dressed as old-time baseball players.

“It’s a really great opportunity to tell their stories,” Lanser said. “The parade showcases the diversity of our town, and the institutions that help make Cincinnati so special. It wouldn’t be the same parade if we didn’t have everyone involved.”

Many of the organizations spend weeks decorating floats, creating costumes and choreographing routines, Lanser said. She noted some teams take upward of six months to put everything together.

Most years, the CRC — which operates ball fields and recreation centers across the city — has a float in the parade. Being a part of the event “only makes sense” because a lot of the region’s best ball players grew up playing on fields or teams run by his organization, Pike said.

“You have people attending their first parade, and you’ll possibly have people who are attending their 80th. And that’s representative of where we fit in the community,” Pike said.

‘They felt like celebrities’

A collection of roughly 30 baseball and softball players from seven Cincinnati Public Schools programs will wear their jerseys and take part in the festivities as well. One of those student-athletes is Amiyah Wilson, a utility player on the Walnut Hills High School softball team.

The parade gives students from dozens of schools in Reds Country the chance to perform on a major stage. (Casey Weldon/Spectrum News 1)

“It’s an honor to be a part of this tradition and it feels great to represent CPS,” she said.

This isn’t Wilson’s first time attending the parade. The senior has also marched in it. Her favorite part is hearing all the school bands perform. She called the entire day “a lot of fun.”

“I’m most looking forward to experiencing this with some of my teammates and soaking in the energy of the people attending the parade.” 

Grady and Hank Priestle each walked in the parade in the last year to represent the Reds Community Fund and the Reds RBI program. Grady plays 14-and-under for Reds RBI, Hank plays 9U. Organizers selected Grady’s team to walk in the parade, but they let his little brother join them.

“They had a blast,” said Scott Priestle, the boys’ father. Each of them waved and high-fived fans all along the parade route.

The boys attended the parade as fans over the years, so they knew what to expect, Priestle said. He mentioned that a few of their teammates seemed pleasantly surprised by the number of people there to watch them.

“All the kids felt like celebrities,” he added.

An all-day celebration

The Findlay Market Opening Day Parade serves as a kickoff to a day of eating, drinking and enjoying baseball. It’s not uncommon for adults to call in sick to work and kids to play hooky from school so they can mark the occasion.

Lanser, a Cincinnati native, recalled her father taking her and other kids in the family out of school on Opening Day so they could enjoy it the “Cincinnati way.”

“Every single year with my dad would call the school and tell them we all had dentist appointments or something,” she said with a laugh. “We would spend the whole day walking around downtown and then head to the game.”

“It was just one of my favorite days,” Lanser added. “Just one of those core memories as a kid.”

Now, as an adult, she brings down her own three kids to parade. She had no need for a dentist note, though.

Opening Day has become an unofficial holiday and family tradition in Cincinnati. (Casey Weldon/Spectrum News 1)

“We emailed their school saying, ‘Sorry. They won’t be there on Thursday,’” Lanser said with a smile.

Nicole Westermeyer Reblando has been attending the Opening Day parade her entire life. She fondly remembers the time Reds legend Johnny Bench walked right by her.

“Completely star struck,” she said of the childhood experience. “People were freaking out.”

The grand marshals are former Cincinnati pitchers Bronson Arroyo and Danny Graves.

Other notable athletes expected to attend are Bengals greats David Fulcher and Ken Anderson; retired FC Cincinnati players Omar Cummings and Corben Bone; and University of Cincinnati basketball alums. A group of former Olympians with ties to the greater Cincinnati region, including George Wilson and Mary Wineberg, are taking part as well.

Westermeyer Reblando lives downtown with her husband. The couple has raised six children — and they share their love of baseball and the parade.

If Opening Day fell on spring break, the proud mom would dress her children in Reds garb from head to toe and take them to the parade. She labeled the entire experience as “organized chaos.”

“It’s the total Americana experience,” Westermeyer Reblando said. “There are many symbols of all the good in our country. It’s uplifting.”

That positive vibe is what the parade centers on, according to Debbie Gannaway, co-chair of the Opening Day Parade committee. The aim is to highlight “all the crown jewels” that make the Queen City a great place to live, she said.

“Up and down the street, you’ll see a mixed bag of ages, races, backgrounds, wealth, or not wealth, and they’re all standing shoulder-to-shoulder and having a good time,” she said. “We’re proud that Opening Day in Cincinnati is truly a day for everyone.”