BOSTON (WHDH) - Duck boat drivers were excited Friday as they prepared to board their ducks and ferry Celtics players, family members, coaches and staff through Boston for the city’s latest championship parade.
Near 9 a.m., two hours before the parade was scheduled to begin, some drivers told 7NEWS they were so excited that they couldn’t sleep Thursday night.
“The best is when they’re loading up the ducks and all the players are walking by,” said one driver. “It’s really amazing.”
Duck boats spent Thursday night in the Boston Duck Tours garage in Dorchester. Early Friday morning, they traveled through Boston with a police escort, arriving at TD Garden to cheers from fans near 7 a.m.
By 9 a.m., more than two dozen duck boats were lined up and ready to go behind the Garden. A 2024 championship banner hung off one boat.
Overhead, one of many championship banners hung from the Garden’s façade proclaiming “2024 World Champions.”
“Everything’s positive,” one other driver said. “What could be negative about today? The fans are happy. We’re excited. I’m overwhelmed. Boston is on fire as we should be.”
Friday’s parade is the 13th duck boat rolling rally since the Patriots first celebrated their Super Bowl win aboard the ducks in 2002.
It is the first such parade since 2019, though, and the first Celtics parade since 2008.
The parade began at 11 a.m. It will snake through Boston and ultimately come to an end outside the Hynes Convention Center on Boylston Street.
While duck boat personnel prepared at the Garden, thousands of fans gathered early along the entire parade route.
7News will be covering the Celtics’ rolling rally throughout the day on air, online and in the 7NEWS app.
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