Barricades blocked off streets. A stage filled the front of Union Station. Rows and rows of port-a-potties awaited the crowds.

Downtown was ready for Wednesday’s Kansas City Chiefs victory parade, celebrating the team after it defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

City officials expected half a million people to cram along Grand Boulevard, from the noon launch point at Sixth Street south to the 1:45 p.m.-ish rally at Union Station.

The crowd erupted as the first double-decker buses appeared, carrying Chiefs players, coaches, CEO Clark Hunt and families — including tight end Travis Kelce’s ever-popular mom, Donna. Players were only too happy to hop off the bus, greet fans and sign a few autographs.

Those fans had been waiting a long time.

Up at 2 a.m. , out the door by 4, Cecilee Robinson and Terri Zeamer of Clinton, Missouri, arrived downtown at 5:30 a.m. Their plan: front row in front of the Union Station stage, with a 10 a.m. break for Zeamer to do a work call.

Bekah Greutman of Grandview and her crew of about a dozen friends and family secured prime spots at 17th and Grand. They also came to the 2020 Chiefs victory parade, when the weather was far colder.

“We’re champs,” Greutman said. “We came last time when it was super freezing when it was like 10 degrees and today it’s 40, so why wouldn’t we.”

“We came out to celebrate - Go Chiefs!”

Along the parade route, loudspeakers cranked the hype music, including Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne’s “Red Kingdom.” As you’d expect, everyone wore red, especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes jerseys, though some of it was hidden under coats. They waved Chiefs flags and signs, and one beat a drum to get the crowd going.

With three hours to go, fans passed the time by tossing a football back and forth across Grand Boulevard. A Kansas City Police Department officer intercepted one pass and tossed it back as cheers erupted.

Manuel Palacio of Kansas City was having an udderly good time near Union Station. Dressed in a cow costume, Palacio was waiting for the parade and rally with his family.

“We’re a cow town,” Palacio explained.

Fans on social media reported sightings of local celebrities and major Chiefs fans Eric Stonestreet and Rob Riggle, with more expected once the parade began.

“Kansas City brings the most energy,” said Anna Sarol of Lenexa, waiting for the parade near the Power & Light District. “So to be surrounded by a bunch of locals who support this team is pretty cool to see.”

Prime spots at Union Station

As dawn broke, a sea of red was already forming outside Union Station.

Esteban Garcia, 22, said he had been camped out near the stage since around 2 a.m. Wearing a Mahomes jersey and wrapped in a blanket, Garcia said his goal was to get the star quarterback to sign the jersey.

“It’s a game changer, man,” Garcia said of what Mahomes has meant to the team.

Garcia said he was one of the first 30 or so to arrive and had been awake since then, with exception of a quick power nap.

How is he handling it? “Blankets and a little bit of liquor in your system to stay warm.” After missing the last parade in 2020, Garcia took off work to make sure he could attend.

“Everybody’s been friendly, everybody’s been cool,” he said.

As the crowd grew to standing room only, some fans were steadfastly committed to their folding chairs.

Renaye Broadnax, and another woman who gave her name as Shai, were patiently sitting in chairs with blankets at Main and Pershing. They said there was no way they would miss the parade after not making it in 2020.

“I can deal with this,” Shai said. “This is not too bad.”

Her third Super Bowl parade

Stephanie Leven was a newlywed back in 1969 when the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV.

More than half a century later — at 4:30 in the morning – the Lee’s Summit woman sat bundled up in a lawn chair on a blanket near 20th and Grand, eagerly waiting to witness her third Super Bowl parade.

“In my life, to see three Super Bowl wins is just awesome,” said Leven, 71, as she and her niece, Melissa Leven, held spots for their group of 10. “It just doesn’t get any more special than this.”

She said the family members are Chiefs fanatics.

“We watch every game together,” she said. “The Super Bowl party at Melissa’s house was crazy. They went outside and shot fireworks, and everyone was hugging and crying.”

Plus, it was Melissa’s 48th birthday, which made the victory even sweeter.

“We wanted to get out here early today and get a good spot to just be able to thank the players and to congratulate them and celebrate this amazing win with them,” Melissa Leven said.

“I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed to see this Chiefs reign.”

Drink up

Members of the Church of the Resurrection provided free coffee to parade attendees outside of its downtown campus at 16th Street and Grand Boulevard.

In other beverage news, Casual Animal in the Crossroads opened its bar at 8 a.m. and it was quickly tough to find a spot. Andrew Dessert, who was helping out at the bar, said Casual Animal could only host around 50 people at a time during the 2020 parade, so it’s huge that the brewery expanded in time for this one.

At McFadden’s in the Power & Light District, customers were drinking beer and eating pizza before 9 a.m.

Vito and Leslie Giarraputo came to The Brick on McGee Street “to celebrate the win.” She said they chose the bar because it looked like a place her husband would like.

Grinders in the Crossroads was serving cocktail pouches: a Mahomes-A-Rita and Kelce Kool-Aid.

Many fans lining the parade route were holding brown paper bags with cans that may or may not have been alcohol.

Meanwhile, some folks clearly embraced the start of legal, recreational marijuana in Missouri with gusto, even though they weren’t really supposed to at the parade. The sights and smells were everywhere.

Doing brisk business

With temperatures hovering just below 40 and a steady wind, fans poured into Rally House in the Power & Light District looking for gloves, extra sweatshirts and Chiefs hats.

In Crown Center, The Best of Kansas City was also selling plenty of other memorabilia, including earrings and shirts.

In the Power & Light District, Meshuggah Bagels was preparing to sell red and yellow bagels. Other spots were loaded with breakfast pizza, breakfast burritos, breakfast sausage and more. But, as you might expect in Kansas City, plenty of places served up barbecue most of the morning as well.

Frank Cherrito was manning the grill at the Scimeca’s Italian Sausage tent across from Union Station. The line was as long as any on the WWI Museum lawn.

“I can fit about 50 sausages on here at a time,” he said. “Good day so far.”

Then again, a very few fans got free merch.

Nowell Lang, 11, may be the luckiest kid in Kansas City. As Mahomes lobbed a football into the red masses at 19th and Grand, Nowell was there for the catch. Chiefs fans twice his age looked on in envy.

“That belongs in a museum!” said his 10-year-old sister, Mabel.

Tips from a veteran

Rachael Hufford had been to the Royals victory parade in 2015 and the Chiefs celebration five years after that.

“I learned lessons,” she said.

Get there early. For the Royals, she found herself stuck in traffic, along Interstate 670, at 8:45 in the morning.

Pack a few hand warmers. In 2020, she had 100 of them. And she used about 70.

This year, with temperatures not near as frigid, she packed “maybe 15.” Just in case.

And, one more tip from parades past: Don’t worry about trying to get a good spot at Union Station.

“People camp out for that,” said Hufford, of Shawnee.

So this time, she scoured the parade route looking for a place close to Crown Center and the hot chocolate for her two sons and one of their friends. A spot near some port-a-potties. And where she, the kids and her sister Farrah Brennan, of Kansas City, could catch good glimpses of some players.

“Mahomes,” one of the boys offered up.

By 7 a.m. the five were settled in a spot along Pershing Road.

“It’s an experience of a lifetime,” said Brennan.

“Memories,” offered her sister.

Going the distance

Kim Reed and her daughter LaTrice Moore, who lives in Florida, returned to where they stood three years ago: along Pershing Road at the end of the parade route where the players jumped off the bus and walked into the crowd.

Moore got a pretty good photo of the Lombardi Trophy back then.

So maybe, just maybe this year …

Mother and daughter hoped to see Travis Kelce.

“Me and him can do the stanky leg,” Reed said, referring to Kelce’s touchdown dance.

The pair knew they had to be at the parade together. So when Moore was back in town for her grandmother’s 88th birthday Monday, she just rescheduled her flight back to Florida for later this week.

“I’m a hometown girl,” said Moore, who grew up in Kansas City. “I wanted to celebrate with my city.”

Rooting for the home team comes from her father, said Reed.

“Saturday and Sundays, football was on,” Reed said.

He died in 2015 and didn’t get to see the last two Super Bowl wins.

“He would have been down here at the parade,” Reed said. “That’s why we try to do everything special in his honor.”

The minute after the Chiefs kicked the winning field goal at the Super Bowl, Lisa Pfeiffer bought a plane ticket. From Cape Coral, Florida, and raised in Kansas City, Pfeiffer wanted to return to her hometown to celebrate with her friends. She said she started loving the Chiefs as soon as she was old enough to understand what football was.

“I would not have missed this,” she said.

Now reveling in a victory at the parade for a second time in three years, Pfeiffer was looking forward to spending the day with people who share her roots. Even better, this year is much warmer, she said.

Sydnee Holmes, 45, who grew up in Topeka, left Dallas at 6 a.m. Tuesday and drove with family to Kansas City. They hunkered down under blankets inside a bus shelter on Pershing Road, near Union Station, before the sunup.

Near Crown Center, Stephanie Peterson, 51, stood covered in red and happy to be among so many like-minded people.

Peterson flew from her home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday to celebrate a team “that has gotten me through many dark times.”

“I came out here just for this. … This feels like my family,” Peterson said, her mouth covered by a red scarf to ward off the cold. “These guys are my life. They’re a healthy passion for me.”

She’s an intense fan: Back home in Salt Lake City she has the Chiefs toothbrush and earrings, underwear and steering wheel cover to prove it. Along with a hat signed by coach Andy Reid.

She pushed aside her scarf and hoodie to show a Chiefs arrowhead tattooed on the back of her neck.

As buses with players and coaches moved past her, she craned to see who she could recognize.

“I would give anything to meet Patrick Mahomes,” she said. “Come hell or high water I’ll get his autograph one day.”

Lining up for shuttles

Before 7 a.m., more than 10 buses were lined up at the Kansas City Zoo, awaiting passengers.

Among the first to board was Nick Merit, who says he’s been a die-hard Chiefs fan since the early ’90s and hoped to get a good viewing spot.

“I’m just looking for a fun time,” he said. He especially loves coach Andy Reid.

“Big Red is one of my favorites of all time. I love the team.”

Dan Johnson is in his 11th year as a school bus driver in De Soto. He said driving fans to the parade Wednesday was something a little different and fun. He hoped he gets a peek of the parade as he worked Wednesday.

Jasmine Nicholson and 11-year-old son drove more than 10 hours from San Antonio, Texas.

“Yeah, he missed school,” she said. “I told them at the beginning of the season, when we win the Super Bowl, I’m coming home. Not if — but when.”

She grew up in Topeka and has been a die-hard Chiefs fan.

“Isiah Pacheco, I’m coming for you,” she said, laughing.

By 7:30 a.m, the parking lot at the zoo had started to fill up and a steady stream of people was heading to board the buses.

Amber Braden, of Lee’s Summit, and her four kids arrived at the shuttle stop at the zoo around 7:15 a.m.

“I just wanted to bring them because this could be the only time they can experience this,” she said.

Her children, ages 6 to 11, said they were excited to see players Nick Bolton, Skyy Moore and, of course, Patrick Mahomes.

Over at the shuttle bus stop at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, by 8:30 a.m., fans whose cars filled the parking lot had no problem flowing onto the buses lined waiting for them.

Carrying chairs and wearing Chiefs jerseys, fans rushed to the buses, hoping, even at that late hour, to secure a spot on the WW1 Memorial’s lawn.

Buses were scheduled to depart for downtown regularly, with the last leaving at 11 a.m.

Safety first

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said 675 uniformed and plainclothes law enforcement officers from multiple agencies were working at locations throughout the parade route.

“The crowd is good,” she said. “Everyone is happy, ready to have a good time and the weather is so much better than it was in 2020. Everybody is ready to celebrate the Chiefs today.”

The parade drew the die-hard fans and the casual onlookers.

Downtown resident Sheila Brooks has lived in Kansas City for just two years and is still getting a feel for the city. She took off from work once she heard the parade would be passing near her apartment building.

“I am not from here and I am not a huge football person but I wanted to come and experience this moment with the city,” she said. “I have never seen it like this down here since I have been here.”

Having lived in several cities she feels a distinct difference.

“I think it is really exciting, and seeing people get so pumped up and there being so much emotion makes me feel lucky to be here,” she said. “People take the team very seriously. Friends would ask if I am watching a game and give me the side eye if I said no. I will be happy to tell them I was here for this.”

Some fans couldn’t get enough of the flags waving, the T-shirts with naughty words and cute dogs wearing Chiefs red.

But for Jessyca Evans one thing stood out among all of that in downtown Kansas City.

“The unity,” Evans said. “Everybody loves everybody today. No one’s been mean. It’s like, ‘Go ahead.’ I like that.”

Her friend Shellie Diehl added: “We are all united about our Kansas City Chiefs.”

As the parade buses rolled away and fans tried to disperse, one person said what was on everyone’s mind: “How the heck are we ever going to get out of here?”

Includes reporting by The Star’s Eric Adler, J.M. Banks, Laura Bauer, Matti Gellman, Lisa Gutierrez, Joseph Hernandez, David Hudnall, Andrea Klick, Katie Moore, Luke Nozicka, Glenn E. Rice, Jonathan Shorman, Joyce Smith, Judy L. Thomas and Jenna Thompson.

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