Fans rush Tampa waterfront for Super Bucs boat parade

Hundreds of boaters take to the Hillsborough River and Garrison Channel while thousands of fans flock to downtown Tampa Wednesday afternoon to cheer on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winners of Super Bowl LV.

By Diane Egner

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General

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February 10, 2021

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Downtown Tampa turned into a sea of red and pewter Wednesday afternoon as thousands of football fans sporting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team colors flocked to the waterfront to enjoy a boat parade celebrating their win in Super Bowl LV.

Bucs players, coaches, and their families could be seen riding in a parade of boats that stretched 3 miles from Armatureworks to the Florida Aquarium and Port Tampa Bay. The outdoor spectacle was designed for maximum attendance and safety in Tampa’s amazing 83 degrees winter weather while trying to keep everyone at a social distance due to COVID-19.

Tom Brady, the Gronk, Mike Evans, Leonard Fournette, Coach Bruce Arians, and other fan favorites tossed footballs into the crowd, downed a few beers, posed for pictures, and waved pirate flags in a frenzy of excitement and community pride. The Bucs win followed by a boat parade matched a similar tribute for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s win of the Stanley Cup in September.

Below are images of the celebration by Photographer Kimberly DeFalco.

Author

Diane Egner is a community leader and award-winning journalist with more than four decades of experience reporting and writing about the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. She serves on the boards of the University of South Florida Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications Advisory Council, The Institute for Research in Art (Graphicstudio, the Contemporary Art Museum, and USF’s Public Art Program) Community Advisory Council, Sing Out and Read, and StageWorks Theatre Advisory Council. She also is a member of Leadership Florida and the Athena Society. A graduate of the University of Minnesota with a BA in journalism, she won the top statewide award for editorial writing from the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors while at The Tampa Tribune and received special recognition by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists for creative work as Content Director at WUSF Public Media. Past accomplishments and community service include leadership positions with Tampa Tiger Bay Club, USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy (WLP), Alpha House of Tampa Bay, Awesome Tampa Bay, Florida Kinship Center, AIA Tampa Bay, Powerstories, Arts Council of Hillsborough County, and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Diane and her husband, Sandy Rief, live in Tampa.