Meet the father and son putting on the Eagles parade
They did the Eagles’ parade in 2018, and they were also called in for parade planning in 2023.
When the Eagles won the Super Bowl last Sunday, the whole Philadelphia region erupted in joy and relief.
But for one father and son, that victory meant things were going to really shift into high gear.
Meet Fred Stein and Neil Stein, the two event planners in charge of putting together the Birds’ victory parade. Some people get stressed planning a dinner, but these guys got this. They did the Eagles’ parade in 2018, and they were also called in for parade planning in 2023 when the Eagles did not win. They’ve been the planners behind major events all over the area.
“Event planning is very stressful, but it’s nothing so many years of experience haven’t prepared us for,” said Neil, 44.
And they’ve been working on this Friday’s parade ever since the Eagles beat the Washington Commanders and the Eagles’ organization asked the Steins to assume parade duties IF the team won the Super Bowl, said father Fred, 73.
That IF was key. As with the 2018 parade, so as not to jinx the team with premature assumptions, the Steins had to line up the contractors, vendors and more for this massive event on a conditional basis.
“Once they won the NFC championship, one day after, we started exploring the options,” Fred said.
“The superstition still held. Every vendor we reached out to, in every subject line, it was either a hypothetical or potential parade,” Neil said. “Nothing was ever definite.”
Of course, it helped that they’d done it before.
“This time we took the lessons from past experience in 2018 and when we were planning it in 2023,” said Neil. Bolstering the jumbotron presence, for example.
Father and son officially have been working together in event planning since 2010, when Neil joined his father’s company, The Creative Group. Back then, they planned the grand opening of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. But they’ve been doing events since Neil was just a boy playing with the walkie talkies he got for a birthday, and Fred would take him on jobs like his alma mater Northeast High School’s 100th anniversary celebration.
“Growing up in the industry, I was always around events,” Neil said. “At an early age, I was out there, setting up the chairs and observing.”
With a degree in electronic media from The George Washington University and a Master’s in broadcast communication from Temple University, Neil is the tech whiz and multimedia coordinator. But over the years, he’s also learned a lot about planning from his dad.
One thing is trying to take a creative approach.
“He never just settled for pure logistics or a straight form or approach to anything,” he said. “He never wanted to do a cookie cutter event.”
But there is a whole lot of planning involved in choreographing an event like the Eagles parade.
“There are meetings upon meetings to figure everything out,” said Fred, who is a Temple communications grad and worked in journalism and city government before planning. “We know exactly what’s going to happen.” And they remain prepared for the unexpected — “any sort of wild fire circumstance” — that comes up.
“We do a second by second timeline, and we know it’s going to change, but as long as the flow is consistent, nobody worries about it,” he said. “That’s part of the excitement.”
So it’s been a busy, busy couple of weeks for this father and son as they’ve worked to put together — quickly — a parade their city won’t forget.
For the record, they both watched the Super Bowl and shared a rejoicing phone call after the Eagles won, like many a father and son. But then they talked about the week ahead. Because the parade was on.
“I walked to Broad Street for five minutes, saw the experience, and said I’m going to go home and work,” said Neil, who lives in Center City. “My friends got to stay out and celebrate. But I was happy to do that, happy to make that sacrifice, to make this a better event.”
“This is an honor,” he said.