Reds fans flood the streets for Opening Day festivities; local high school band featured in parade

CINCINNATI — Baseball is back and Cincinnati Reds fans have been celebrating Opening Day since early Thursday morning.

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The streets of downtown Cincinnati were flooded with fans all day who were anxiously awaiting first pitch at Great American Ballpark.

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For some fans News Center 7 spoke with, it’s a memory they’ll never forget. For others, it’s a tradition to look forward to every year.

“I mean, there’s more people, more events. Everything’s neat,” Terry Clock said.

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The Reds Opening Day Parade brought out fans of all kinds, watching from anywhere they could find a spot.

This year’s parade featured some Miami Valley talent, including the Trotwood-Madison Marching Band. For many of them, this is their first Opening Day experience.

“When we did one of our band songs, they was like really, really loud,” Jecha’la Williams, a dancer with the marching band, said. “Like, it just gave us - well, it gave me a really good feeling about how the parade is going to go.”

They found out they would be part of the parade back in January and have been preparing ever since.

“Prepping for sound and learning more music, learning different techniques, choreographies, dances, flag routines,” Williams said.

News Center 7’s Mason Fletcher was at the parade and said you could feel the energy from fans who were eager to root for their Reds for the first time this year.

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