Cincinnati Public Schools Hosts Superhero Parade With Bootsy and Patti Collins

The inaugural Superhero Hero Parade steps off at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 at the corner of 14th and Elm streets. Photo: Steven Libralon, Unsplash

Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) is kicking off the back-to-school season with a parade honoring some hometown heroes and getting kids in the do-good spirit.

The inaugural Superhero Hero Parade steps off at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 at the corner of 14th and Elm streets. The parade will go down Race Street, enter Washington Park from 12th Street, and end in the middle of the park.

The legendary Bootsy Collins, his wife Patti Collins and advocate Michele Young with CPS put together the parade, which will feature nurses, police officers and firefighters. Superheroes will start lining up at 10:30 a.m. They’ll also take a pledge to stand against bullying and empower others to soar, says a press release. Patti Collins and Young say they hope this commitment will be a guiding principle to make Cincinnati and Hamilton County known as a place for all children to thrive, dream and to stand for what is right.

“I have had the honor of working shoulder to shoulder alongside Patti as we lifted up children for years. There is magic in all she and Bootsy do. We will succeed in the same way as Joey Votto, Joe Burrow, or Elly De La Cruz in lifting the hopes and aspirations of all of us,” Young said in the release.

Thousands of kids are expected to come out for the parade and stay for the Back to School Fest in Washington Park. Back to School Fest goes until 2 p.m. and will have free school supplies, food trucks, capes and a celebration of 50 years of hip-hop featuring Bootsy and Patti.

Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. More info: cps-k12.org.