Chiefs parade draws crowd, closes businesses, stokes social media frenzy
After a long-awaited Super Bowl win by the Kansas City Chiefs, their hometown fans were eager to celebrate.
On Wednesday, they got that chance. Kansas City held a victory parade that attracted fans from all over the area.
Before the parade, some projections suggested as many as 1 million people would be drawn downtown for the event. That would have exceeded the estimated 800,000 fans that attended the Kansas City Royals’ victory parade for the World Series in 2015, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.
Official attendance estimates for Wednesday have not been released since the parade. But overhead photos of the Liberty Memorial and Union Station, where the Royals’ rally took place in 2015 and the Chiefs’ rally was held Wednesday, seem to show a larger crowd for the 2015 event.
That surprised some social media users.
Really expected the Chiefs to lap the Royals in parade attendance. Had to be because of weather. Right?
— Jeff Allen (@JeffAllen71) February 5, 2020
Some suggested wintry weather and temperatures in the 20s may have depressed attendance a bit.
Nevertheless, hearty fans bundled up headed out for the event, lining the parade route — which ran from the City Market to Union Station — and packing the pep rally.
Time-lapse from the Museum of the #ChiefsParade crowds still gathering this morning. Sweeping views of a wonderful celebration. Reminder that the Museum is OPEN today. Food, warmth, and facilities are available to guests. | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/jESnspwu4y
— National WWI Museum (@TheWWImuseum) February 5, 2020
One challenge of the parade was security. The Kansas City Police Department had all hands on deck for the day, according to a press release. There was a car chase along the route before the parade, and three other arrests were made.
Total arrests from the parade/rally area today: 5
2 from police pursuit on route
1 on a horse
1 at Union Station
1 belligerent guy who fell out of a tree
Well done, #ChiefsKingdom! #chiefsparade— Kansas City Police (@kcpolice) February 5, 2020
Another issue was parking due to limited spaces around the parade route, according to WDAF.
To address the issue, the city offered free bus transportation running every 30 and 60 minutes.
Way to go @RideKCTransit. https://t.co/wuR5FP2NFe
— RideKC (@RideKCTransit) February 6, 2020
Some businesses in the immediate vicinity of the parade route closed for the day, The Pitch reports. Other Kansas City businesses declared a holiday to let their employees attend the celebration, the Kansas City Business Journal reports.
Boulevard Brewing Co. was one such business. Boulevard President Jeff Krum said the Chiefs’ success this postseason more than made up for the lost production of one day off.
“We’ve sold a ton of beer during the whole playoff run,” Krum told the Business Journal. “In Florida over the past few weeks, we had to send extra trucks just to accommodate the boost in demand from all the Chiefs fans there. Since then, people have been preparing for the parade. We’ve had to re-look at orders and inventories to make sure we’re keeping our distributors and retailers from running out of beer.”
Like the Chiefs’ run to a Super Bowl victory, their celebratory parade was something many in Kansas City will never forget.
Yesterday was nothing short of amazing here in #KCMO. Check out this video of the #ChiefsChampionshipParade from @LetItFlyMedia. #ChiefsKingdom #ChiefsKingdomParade #chiefsnation #Chiefs #ChiefsParade #kansascitymissouri @KansasCity #Missouri pic.twitter.com/fHFyI1MGRE
— Kansas City, MO (@KCMO) February 6, 2020
