Chiefs Kingdom only celebrated their last Super Bowl parade a year ago but it appears the taste of victory never grows old as fans lined the streets in anticipation of welcoming their triumphant team home from Las Vegas.
The Kansas City Chiefs sealed back-to-back Super Bowl wins – becoming the first team to do so since 2004 – with a thrilling 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and co jetted back from Sin City on Monday but they allowed themselves an extra day to recover from their afterparty hangovers before celebrating their win with Kansas City on Wednesday.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas scheduled the victory parade for Valentine’s Day, immediately taking to social media following the win to declare, ‘LET’S HAVE A PARADE WEDNESDAY!’
And the Chiefs faithful did not disappoint packing the streets hours before the scheduled start time of 11am CT/12pm ET to catch a glimpse of Mahomes hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for a third time in five years.
Downtown Kansas City turned into a sea of red as fans packed the parade route with many bringing fold-out chairs to bag their spot hours before it began to guarantee a glimpse of their champions.
In one clip shared to social media, fans were already congregating in the streets at 5.45am.
‘It never gets old,’ Mayor Lucas posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on the eve of Wednesday’s festivities.
The city and the team each chipped in around $1 million each for the event commemorating Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs becoming the first team since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots two decades ago to defend their title.
Many of the largest school districts in the area have canceled classes, and businesses along the parade path are turning the day into a viewing party for their workers.
At least 600 Kansas City police officers will be stationed along the the two-mile route, said police Chief Stacey Graves.
The estimated crowd of one million has been drawn in by the unseasonably warm temperatures in the 60s Fahrenheit and the extremely remote possibility of seeing Taylor Swift alongside boyfriend Kelce and the reigning champions.
However, those who have turned out for the popstar will be sorely disappointed as she will not be joining in on the celebrations.
The songstress, who watched her boyfriend win his third Super Bowl alongside his family and her friends from a VIP box, partied with the team until 5.15am on the Vegas Strip, including a very loved up display with the tight end.
♥️💛♥️💛♥️💛♥️
5:45am pic.twitter.com/h6jzUj3800— Jenna (@jennaxkc) February 14, 2024
But she returned to her Eras Tour duties this week, touching down in Melbourne on one of her luxury jets to kick of the Australian leg of her sold-out show.
The Cruel Summer singer is scheduled to take to the stage in front of 85,000 screaming fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the first show on Friday, meaning she will miss out on the Chief’s parade and her first Valentine’s Day with Kelce.
Kicking off in the morning local time, the parade will be followed by a rally at Union Station at 12.45pm CT.
This year’s parade will follow almost exactly the same route as the Chiefs’ 2020 and 2023 Super Bowl celebrations.
It will begin at 6th Street the Kansas City River Market and ending at Pershing Road in front of Union Station, according to the Kansas City Star.
However, there is one difference to this year’s map with the route not set to head through City Market.
After decades without a championship, the city is gaining experience with victory parades. Five seasons ago, the Chiefs defeated the 49ers for the team´s first Super Bowl championship in 50 years.
That followed the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series in 2015, the city´s first baseball championship in 30 years. That year, fans abandoned their cars on the side of the highway so they could walk to the celebration.
Then, last year, the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 and prophetically vowed they would be back for more.
One big change this year is that the parade is getting started one hour earlier at 11am so the crowd will dissipate before the Valentine’s Day dinner crowd shows up.
