Members from the “Cincinnati” magazine are walking in the Opening Day parade. Opening Day is Cincinnati is considered almost a holiday by locals. As the first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds every year have their first game at home. All photos courtesy of Lauren Kurtzer.

Fountain Square is filled with Reds fans in their gear. Even if they are not attending, thousands of fans came to enjoy the parade and festivities. There were booths of local places such as Skyline Chili, MadTree Brewery, and Cincinnati Bell.

A large flag stretches along the outfield of Great American Ballpark or GABP on Opening Day for the National Anthem. Members of the Cincinnati Fire Department held the flag. Honor Guards from all five branches of the military were present. Kentucky native Marlana VanHoose sang the anthem, as she has done many times before.

Former Reds first baseman Sean Casey is being honored pregame as the Grand Marshall of the 98th Findlay Market Opening Day Parade. Known as “The Mayor,” fan favorite Casey played for the Reds from 1998-2005 with a career 0.301 average. Casey now works as an analyst for the Major League Baseball Network.

Cincinnati Reds’ stadium, Great American Ballpark or GABP, is looked over during Opening Day on Monday April 3. It is located in downtown Cincinnati right on the Ohio River, dividing the states of Kentucky and Ohio. Every offseason the organization works to improve and upgrade the stadium experience for fans. They always add seats to increase the number of fans with this year holding 43,804 seats.