The Buckeye spirit will be showcased Friday in Ohio State’s 99th annual homecoming parade.

“Tradition Marches On,” the title of this year’s parade, will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the OSU marching band’s iconic Script Ohio formation with the parade’s traditional floats and the uniting of the Scarlet and Gray to commemorate the university.

The festivities of homecoming weekend will begin with the parade that will take off from Ohio Stadium at 6 p.m. and follow a route east on Woodruff Avenue, south on High Street and end at the Ohio Union.

“With this year’s theme being the 75th anniversary of script Ohio, ‘Tradition Marches on,’ organizations have the opportunity to reflect their favorite tradition on OSU campus or to reflect the traditions within their organization,” said Lache Roach, co-chair of the major events committee in charge of the parade.

Whether the groups want to build a symbol reflecting their organization or a football, depends on what they want to exemplify and what is important to them, Roach said.

“With how the football team is this year, (the parade) is showing what a Buckeye is truly about. It is about sticking, unifying and coming together, not only celebrating with our OSU community but with our Columbus community as well,” Roach said.

Adam Burden, coordinator of student involvement, said the general budget for the parade is $50,000, and the money comes from the student activity fee.

Brooke Beam, a fourth-year in agricultural communication, said being in the parade is a great way to be a part of OSU’s traditions.

“To get involved with and be apart of something on campus is fun since OSU is all about traditions,” Beam said.

Beam is a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, which entered one of the 20 floats in the parade.

President E. Gordon Gee was an inspiration for the sorority’s float, which is a papier-mâché football made out of chicken wire with a bow tie sitting on top of the football.

Students and organizations were able to build their floats with provided supplies at the stadium on Wednesday and Thursday nights in the south stands in the Ohio Stadium.

The 75 different entries in the parade will be made up of Gee, regional courts, the OSU band, OSU cheerleaders and many more.

The grand marshals will be Jon Woods, director of the Ohio State Marching Band, and several alumni band members who marched in the very first Script Ohio in 1936.

Following the parade, a pep rally sponsored by the OSU Alumni Association and the Student-Alumni Council will take place on the West Plaza of the Ohio Union at about 7 p.m.