Everybody is welcome in the second line — that is the whole spirit of it. But welcome comes with respect. If it is your first time out, here is how to roll right.
Respect the club. The members in the matching suits worked all year for this day. Do not crowd them, do not grab their fans or feathers, and let them lead. They are the first line; you are the second. Stay behind the banner.
Support the culture. Buy from the vendors along the route — the plates, the drinks, the water. That money keeps the tradition rolling and feeds the neighborhood hosting you.
Move with it, not against it. The parade flows. Do not stand in the middle blocking the band, do not try to reverse the crowd. Feel the direction and go with it.
Mind the neighborhood. These are people’s homes and blocks. Keep it clean, keep it kind, and remember you are a guest in someone’s Sunday.
Ask before you film faces. Enjoy it, capture it, but read the room — especially at memorial stops, where a club may be honoring someone they lost.
Do all that and you are not a tourist anymore. You are part of the second line — which is exactly where the culture wants you.