CINCINNATI — A new season of pro baseball is here, and Cincinnati is celebrating the Reds first home game. It started with a parade and brought thousands along with it who went straight over to the Great American Ballpark for the first home game. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Cincinnati Reds opening day festivities kicked off with a parade around Findlay Market 

  • More than 150 floats and marching bands set the stage for the celebration 

  • An estimated 130,000 fans came out to see the parade, and many families came there as a decades long tradition

Reds opening day is like an unofficial holiday in Cincinnati. Inside the ballpark, fans streamed in the moment they opened the gates. Thousands of hopeful fans are celebrating the season opener that kicked off with a parade.

For a small town marching band, the parade was their moment. The Taylor High School marching band is one of more than 150 floats and marching bands that kicked off the season in the Reds opening day parade.

“It's really cool. We all have, like, a really big sense of pride in Cincinnati for opening day," Band Member Sean Kelley said. "It's like one of the biggest parades around."

From marching bands to music legends to former Bengals and Reds players, the city went all out in a decades-long tradition.

“It's a lot of fun for me," said Kevin Sucher, Taylor High School band director. "You know, this is something I did when I was in high school every year. This was a great experience, and now for the kids to have an opportunity, you're not going to get a chance to play for this many people in one place. So it's a really big stage for them to shine."

An estimated 130,000 people came to Findlay Market to see the parade and continue the tradition.

"We’ve got three generations here," Reds fan and grandmother Sharon Caldemeyer said. "Me, my son and his daughter, my granddaughter."

For another family, it was their first time along the parade route, but they said it won’t be their last.

“We moved here, then there was COVID and all that, and now we get to be a part of this is awesome,” Reds fan and father Tyler Stowers said. 

Some fans took off work and school to celebrate what they hope will be baseball's best season for the Reds.

There’s a lot of hope for this season that they’ll be the champions, but fans say they’re ready to keep up the excitement for the rest of the season.

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