The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ® will officially usher in the holiday season on Thursday, November 28 at 8:30 a.m. for its 98th march. Each year, the Parade brings together millions of people to celebrate the joy and magic of the season with the nation’s premiere holiday experience, featuring a world-class lineup of iconic character balloons, fantastical floats, music’s biggest talents, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.
The 98th Macy’s Parade lineup will be the largest yet with more than 5,000 volunteers, 17 featured character balloons, 22 floats, 15 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 11 marching bands, 10 performance groups and music’s biggest stars, all welcoming Santa Claus and the holidays.
You can watch only on the official telecast on NBC and simulcast on Peacock, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., in all time zones. An encore telecast at 2:00 p.m. ET/PT. “TODAY’s” Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker will return as hosts of the Emmy ® Award winning celebration. A Spanish language simulcast on Telemundo will be hosted by the network’s Carlos Adyan and Andrea Meza.
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Below are five other interesting facts about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- Originally, it was a Christmas parade. The first parade was organized in 1924 with floats, bands, and animals from the zoo. Three years later, the parade was renamed to the Thanksgiving parade.
- The large balloons came to the parade in 1927. Mickey Mouse first made an appearance in 1934 and each year since then. The tradition in the early years was at the end of the parade to allow the balloons to float away, if you were lucky enough to find one, you could find a Macy’s gift card inside.
- A day ahead of the parade, fans can watch the balloons inflate in the staging area outside the Museum of Natural History. The balloons are constructed in the Macy’s studio located in New Jersey. Organizers expect 1 million at the balloon inflation event.
- This year, six new featured character balloons will debut, including Disney’s Minnie Mouse by The Walt Disney Company; Extraordinary Noorah ™ & The Elf on the Shelf ® by The Lumistella Company; Gabby by DreamWorks Animation; Goku by Dragon Ball/Toei Animation; Marshall by Nickelodeon™ and Spin Master ® ; and Spider-Man by Marvel.
- There have been a few mishaps over the years. In 1957, a wet day got wetter for people near a Popeye balloon when the character’s hat filled with water and drenched parade watchers. It happened again in 1962 with a Donald Duck hat. And one year Superman lost an arm in a tree branch.
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