Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood is gearing up for its annual Columbus Day Parade, stepping off at noon on Monday along Mayfield Road. Leading the procession as grand marshal is Mike Fratello, the former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach who went on to a long career as an NBA broadcaster.
The parade is scheduled to begin at noon on October 12, according to orderisda.org, and organizers expect it to draw thousands of people to the neighborhood, as reported by FOX 8 Cleveland WJW. Cleveland19 similarly reported that Little Italy would welcome thousands Monday afternoon for the celebration. The day begins earlier than the parade itself, with Columbus Day Mass set for 10 a.m. at Holy Rosary Church on Mayfield Road, per orderisda.org.
Floats, Vintage Cars and the Orlando Bread Truck
FOX 8 Cleveland WJW reports the parade will feature marching bands, floats, vintage cars and the Orlando bread truck, a recurring fixture of the celebration. Organizers add that the lineup will include vendors and Italian and Italian American food alongside elaborate floats and vintage cars, per orderisda.org's account of this year's event.
Fratello's turn as grand marshal continues a tradition of tapping notable figures from Cleveland sports and civic life to lead the march. He formerly coached the Cavaliers before moving into broadcasting, according to the FOX 8 Cleveland WJW report.
A Parade Rooted in Family and Heritage
Judge Basil M. Russo, who serves as parade chairman and national president of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, said Little Italy is where families gather each year to celebrate their ancestors' heritage, per FOX 8 Cleveland WJW. Russo also said the parade honors ancestors' perseverance and allows the next generation to share in that history, the station reported.
The Italian Sons and Daughters of America, which organizes the parade, was founded in 1930 and works to support and celebrate Italian American heritage, according to FOX 8 Cleveland WJW. The organization's mission dovetails with the broader purpose of the event, which littleitalycle.com describes as a celebration of Italian American pride, history and community. The Cleveland area is home to approximately 198,000 people of Italian ancestry, the largest concentration of any metropolitan area in Ohio, according to orderisda.org.
A Tradition With Deep Roots and a Pandemic Pause
Cleveland's local Columbus Day celebrations trace back to 1920, with the parade eventually moving from downtown to Little Italy in 2004, orderisda.org notes. The event has not run uninterrupted in recent years: the 2020 parade was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns before it returned to Little Italy in 2021, according to WKYC. That 2021 parade also started at noon and traveled along Mayfield and Murray Hill roads, featuring elaborate floats, marching bands, local artifacts and city leaders, per the same report.
The holiday itself remains a subject of ongoing debate nationally. WKYC has reported that some communities have moved away from labeling the day Columbus Day, choosing instead to recognize it as Indigenous Peoples' Day. Cleveland's parade, meanwhile, has continued to draw sizable crowds in recent years; in 2023, organizers said thousands of Greater Clevelanders were expected to gather in Little Italy for the celebration, according to Russo's remarks reported by cleveland.com.
Expect Bus Reroutes Near Mayfield Road
The parade's annual route through Little Italy has historically disrupted public transit. During the 2025 parade, the RTA number 9 Mayfield–Hough bus line was placed on reroute, according to riderta.com. A year earlier, the agency rerouted the number 9 Mayfield Line from noon to 2 p.m. on October 14, 2024, to accommodate the parade, per a separate riderta.com alert. Riders heading toward Little Italy on Monday should anticipate similar detours given the parade's history of affecting that corridor.
