Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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"Macy's Day Parade" redirects here. For the song by Green Day, see Warning (Green Day album).

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Presented by
Opening theme"Theme from New York, New York" (2015-present)
Ending theme"Santa Claus Arrives to the Parade"
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes97 (as of November 24, 2023)
Production
Executive producerBrad Lachman (1994–present)
Production locationsCentral Park to Macy's Herald Square
New York City
Camera setupVideotape; multi-camera
Running time1945–1959: 1 hours (with commercials)
1960–1961, 1965-1968: 2 hours (with commercials)
1962–1964: 1 hour and 30 minutes (with commercials)
1969–2022: 3 hours (with commercials)
2023–present: 3 hours and 30 minutes (with commercials)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseNovember 27, 1924 (1924-11-27) –
November 27, 1952 (1952-11-27) (radio)
November 22, 1945 (1945-11-22) – present (television)
Related

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924,[2] tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade). The three-hour parade is held in Manhattan, ending outside Macy's Herald Square, and takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1953.

History[edit]

1920s: Early history[edit]

In 1924, store employees marched to Macy's Herald Square, the flagship store on 34th Street, dressed in vibrant costumes. There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. At the end of that first parade, Santa Claus was welcomed into Herald Square.[3][4] At this first parade, Santa was enthroned on the Macy's balcony at the 34th Street store entrance, where he was then crowned "King of the Kiddies". With an audience of over 250,000 people, the parade was such a success that Macy's declared it would become an annual event, despite media reports only barely covering the first parade.[5][better source needed]

The Macy's parade was enough of a success to push Ragamuffin Day, the typical children's Thanksgiving Day activity from 1870 into the 1920s, into obscurity. Ragamuffin Day featured children going around and performing a primitive version of trick-or-treating, a practice that by the 1920s had come to annoy most adults. The public backlash against such begging in the 1930s (when most Americans were struggling in the midst of the Great Depression) led to promotion of alternatives, including Macy's parade. While ragamuffin parades that competed with Macy's would continue into the 1930s, the competition from Macy's would overwhelm the practice, and the last ragamuffin parade in New York City would take place in 1956.[6]

Tony Sarg loved to work with marionettes from an early age. After moving to London to start his own marionette business, Sarg moved to New York City to perform with his puppets on the street. Macy's heard about Sarg's talents and asked him to design a window display of a parade for the store.[7]

1930s–1980s: Growth[edit]

Through the 1930s, the parade continued to grow, with crowds of over one million people lining the parade route in 1933. The first Mickey Mouse balloon entered the parade in 1934. The annual festivities were broadcast on local radio stations in New York City from 1932[8] to 1941[9] and resumed in 1945,[10] running through 1951.[11]

The parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 as a result of World War II because rubber and helium were needed for the war effort.[12][13] The parade resumed in 1945 and became known nationwide shortly afterwards, having been prominently featured in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, which included footage of the 1946 festivities. The event had its first broadcast on network television in 1948 (see § Television coverage). From 1984 to 2019, the balloons were made by Raven Industries of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, through its Raven Aerostar division.[14]

Since 1985, the parade has traditionally been led by the New York City Police Department Highway Patrol. In 2019, the cast of Sesame Street led the parade in honor of the show's 50th anniversary.[15]

1990s–2000s: Safety changes[edit]

As the parade continued into the 1990s, it would begin to see various changes, particularly in safety. During the 1993 parade, strong gusts of wind pushed the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon into a lamppost at Columbus Circle. The lamppost damaged the balloon and the top of the post broke off while inside the balloon, dragging it down, injuring a child and an off-duty police officer in the process.[16][17]

However, that accident would pale in comparison to what would occur four years later, as during the 1997 parade, extremely high winds pushed the Cat in the Hat balloon into a lamppost at 72nd Street.[18] The falling debris struck a parade-goer, fracturing her skull and leaving her in a coma for 24 days.[19] The winds also caused trouble for the other balloons. The Barney the Dinosaur balloon veered out of control and was eventually stomped and stabbed by the NYPD. The Pink Panther balloon collapsed onto the ground and was stabbed by an NYPD inspector.[20][21][22] Mayor Rudy Giuliani formed a task force in response,[23] and numerous safety regulations were implemented the next year, including size restrictions that eliminated larger balloons such as the Cat in the Hat and the Pink Panther, the removal of lamppost arms on the parade route, and both physical training and lessons in balloon physics for handlers.[24]

During the 2005 parade, the M&M's balloon collided with a streetlight in Times Square; parts of the light fell on two sisters, who suffered minor injuries.[25] New safety measures were incorporated in 2006 to prevent accidents and balloon-related injuries. One measure taken was the installation of wind measurement devices to alert parade organizers to any unsafe conditions that could cause the balloons to behave erratically. In addition, parade officials implemented a measure to keep the balloons closer to the ground during windy conditions. New York City law prohibits Macy's from flying the full-size balloons if sustained winds exceed 20 knots (23 mph) or wind gusts exceed 30 knots (35 mph); New York's tall buildings and mostly uniform grid plan can amplify wind velocity on city streets. This law, imposed in 1998, has never been activated, despite several close calls; the only time the parade balloons were ever grounded was in 1971. Each balloon has a risk profile to determine handling in windy conditions; taller, upright balloons are rotated to appear horizontal and face downward in such situations (as was the case in 2019, when a grounding was narrowly averted). The remaining floats and performances will continue as scheduled should the balloons be grounded.[26]

2010s–2020s[edit]

The 2018 parade was the coldest to date, with the temperature at 19 °F (-7.2 °C) during the event.[27] The warmest was in 1933 at 69 °F (20.5 °C). The 2006 parade was the wettest with 1.72" (49 mm) of rain.[28] Actresses Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla's kiss during The Prom's performance at the 2018 parade received significant media attention for being the first broadcast of a same-sex kiss in the parade's history.[29]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the 2020 parade was downsized and closed to the public—being filmed as a broadcast-only event in the Herald Square area. There were 88% fewer participants, and social distancing was enforced. The event did not include college and high school marching bands (with the affected bands having been reinvited for 2021), nor any participant under 18 years of age. Balloons were tethered to a "specially rigged anchor vehicle framework of five specialty vehicles" rather than carried by handlers. Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio stated that it will "[not be] a live parade, but something that will really give us that warmth and that great feeling we have on Thanksgiving day."[30][31] In 2021, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade returned to its traditional in-person procession with 6,500 participants marching in the Parade.

In 2023, the parade started half an hour earlier, at 8:30 am, making it the first parade to begin earlier for almost a century.[32] The parade would also feature Sheryl Lee Ralph as the first celebrity and the first black person to play Mrs. Claus in the parade’s history.[33] Around 10am, pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the parade in three locations. Some of the protesters wearing white jumpsuits covered in fake blood, glued themselves to the parade route at Sixth Avenue near 45th street.[34]

Balloons [edit]

Felix the Cat, one of the first balloons featured in the parade.
Hamlet The Balloon School Pig being inflated by the Steven's Inflation Crew during training at Giants Stadium
The Olaf balloon being inflated the night before the parade in 2018.

Balloons were introduced in 1928, replacing live zoo animals.[35] Sarg's large animal-shaped balloons were produced by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio from the 1920s through 1980.[36] Five of the giant balloons introduced that year were designed and filled with helium to rise above 2,000 feet (610 meters) and slowly deflate for whoever was lucky enough to capture the contestants in Macy's "balloon race[s]" and return them for a reward of $100 (equivalent to more than $1,600 with inflation as of 2021), this lasted until 1932.[37]

The balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade have had several varieties. The oldest is the novelty balloon class, consisting of smaller balloons ranging widely in size and handled by between one and thirty people (the smallest balloons are shaped like human heads and fit on the heads of the handlers). The larger and more popular class is the character balloons, primarily consisting of licensed pop-culture characters; each of these (16 in 2019[38]) is handled by exactly 90 people. From 2005 to 2012, a third balloon class, the "Blue Sky Gallery", transformed the works of contemporary artists into full-size balloons; after a five-year hiatus, the Blue Sky Gallery returned in 2018, lasting until 2020.[citation needed]


Balloons listed by year introduced[edit]

Character balloons[edit]

Year Balloons
1928 Fish, Tiger, Hummingbird, Sky Elephant, Early Bird
1929 Turk with Sparkplug the Horse, Katzenjammers with the Captain, Sultan of Sulu, Turkey Gobbler, Ol' Man Dragon (longest balloon to ever appear in the Parade)
1930 Joe Jinks, Barney Google, Boob McNutt
1931 Tiamat the Tiger, Jerry the Pig, Two-Headed Giant, Tom Cat, Blue Hippo, Cats
1932 Felix the Cat, Willie Red Bird, Fritz the Dachshund, Terrible Turk
1933 Gulliver, The Colicky Kid
1934 Mickey Mouse, Eddie Cantor, Little Pig, The Big Bad Wolf
1935 Donald Duck, Turkey, Harpo Marx, Indian
1936 Father Knickerbocker, Dragon, Two-Headed Pirate
1937 Morton the Nantucket Sea Monster (redesigned version of Dragon Balloon), Officer SOS 13 (redesigned version of Father Knickerbocker Balloon), Pinocchio, Christmas Stocking, Daring Young Man on the Trapeze
1938 Uncle Sam, Ferdinand the Bull, Little Man-Big Man
1939 The Tin Man, Santa Claus
1940 Hippopotamus, Superman, Laffo the Clown
1941 Hugo the Football Player (redesigned version of Superman Balloon) and Football, Goldfish, Elephant
1945 Bobo the Hobo, The Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, Teddy Bear, Pumpkin, Ice Cream Cone
1946 Baseball Player (redesigned version of the Bobo the Hobo balloon), Panda Bear (redesigned version of Teddy Bear Balloon), Pilgrim, Candy Cane
1947 Pirate (redesigned version of the Pilgrim balloon), Comical Cop (redesigned version of Baseball Player Balloon), Gnome (redesigned version of the Ice Cream Cone Balloon)
1948 Fireman (redesigned version of Officer PAL Balloon), Monkey on the High Trapeze (redesigned version of the Man on the Young Man on the Flying Trapeze balloon), Crocodile
1949 Hobo Clown (redesigned version of Fireman Balloon), Dachshund, Howdy Doody
1950 Toy Soldier, Rainbow Trout
1951 Mighty Mouse
1952 Spaceman
1953 Dachshund (second version), Goldfish with Pinkish Fins (redesigned version of the Rainbow Trout Balloon)
1954 Gorgeous Gobbler
1956 Observer
1957 Popeye
1960 Happy Dragon
1961 Bullwinkle
1962 Flying Trapeze (redesigned version of the Observer Balloon), Donald Duck (second version)
1963 Dino the Dinosaur, Elsie the Cow
1964 Linus the Lionhearted
1965 Underdog
1966 Superman (second version), Smokey Bear
1968 Snoopy the Aviator
1969 Snoopy the Astronaut (second version, a tribute to Apollo 11)
1971 Smile (redesigned version of the Elsie the Cow balloon), Mickey Mouse (second version)
1975 Weeble
1977 Kermit the Frog
1980 Superman (third version)
1982 Olive Oyl, Woody Woodpecker
1983 Yogi Bear
1984 Garfield, Raggedy Ann
1985 Betty Boop
1986 Humpty Dumpty (redesigned version of Weeble Balloon), Swee'Pea (addition to Olive Oyl balloon), Baby Shamu
1987 Spider-Man, Ronald McDonald, Skater Snoopy (third version), Snuggle Bear
1988 Big Bird, Quik Bunny, Pink Panther, Snoopy (fourth version) and Woodstock
1989 Bugs Bunny
1990 Clifford the Big Red Dog, Bart Simpson
1991 Babar the Elephant (redesigned version of the Smile balloon)
1992 Santa Goofy
1993 Beethoven (dog), Sonic the Hedgehog (first video game character balloon in Parade history), Rex, Izzy
1994 Barney, The Cat in the Hat
1995 Dudley the Dragon, Sky Dancer, Eben Bear (redesigned version of Snuggle Bear Balloon)
1996 Rocky and Bullwinkle (second version of Bullwinkle, first animated helium balloon in the parade's history), Peter Rabbit
1997 Arthur, Rugrats, Bumpé, Petula Pig
1998 Babe, Wild Thing, Dexter
1999 Millennium Snoopy (fifth version), Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, Blue
2000 Bandleader Mickey Mouse (third version), Jeeves, Ronald McDonald (second version), Dragon Tales' Cassie
2001 Curious George, Pikachu, Big Bird (second version), Jimmy Neutron, Cheesasaurus Rex (first balloon with light-up feature)
2002 Charlie Brown and the Elusive Football, Little Bill, Mr. Monopoly, Kermit the Frog (second version)
2003 "Strike Up the Band" Barney (second version), Super Grover, Garfield (second version)
2004 Chicken Little, M&M's Red and Yellow Brighten the Holidays, SpongeBob SquarePants
2005 Scooby-Doo, Dora the Explorer, Mr. Potato Head, Jojo
2006 Snoopy as the Flying Ace (sixth version), Pikachu with Poké Ball (second version)
2007 Abby Cadabby, Super Cute Hello Kitty, Shrek
2008 Smurf, Buzz Lightyear, Horton the Elephant
2009 Spider-Man (second version),[39] Ronald McDonald (third version), Sailor Mickey (fourth version), Pillsbury Doughboy
2010 Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Po from Kung Fu Panda
2011 Sonic the Hedgehog (second version), Julius
2012 Hello Kitty (second version), Papa Smurf, The Elf on the Shelf
2013 Snoopy and Woodstock (seventh version for Snoopy, second version for Woodstock), SpongeBob SquarePants (second version), How to Train Your Dragon's Toothless, The Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary Hot Air Balloon, Adventure Time with Finn & Jake
2014 Thomas the Tank Engine, Paddington (second version, first time as a balloon), Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, Skylanders' Eruptor, Pikachu (third version), Pillsbury Doughboy (second version, identical to first version)
2015 Ice Age's Scrat and his Acorn, Ronald McDonald (fourth version), Angry Birds' Red,[40] Dino (second version)
2016 Charlie Brown (second version), Diary of a Wimpy Kid (second version), Trolls
2017 Olaf, Jett from Super Wings, Chase from PAW Patrol, Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (second version, first time as a Balloon; from the 2018 animated film)
2018 Goku from Dragon Ball
2019 Astronaut Snoopy (eighth version), Green Eggs and Ham, SpongeBob SquarePants (third version) with Gary
2020 Red Titan from Ryan's World, The Boss Baby
2021 Ada Twist, Scientist, Funko Pop!-Inspired Grogu, Ronald McDonald (fifth version), Pikachu and Eevee (fourth version for Pikachu)
2022 Bluey, Stuart the Minion, Diary of a Wimpy Kid (third version), Sinclair's Dino and Baby Dino (third version for Dino)
2023 Beagle Scout Snoopy (ninth version for Snoopy, third version for Woodstock), Leo, Monkey D. Luffy, Kung Fu Panda's Po (second version), Pillsbury Doughboy (third version)

Novelty balloons[edit]

Year Balloons
1985 Lollipops, Ice Cream Cone, Pennsylvania Dutch Ornaments, Flower Ornaments, American Star Ornaments, Geometric Ornaments, Macy's White Stars
1986 Macy's White Stars (second version, first full-size version), Starfishes
1987 Ice Cream Cone (second version), Ice Stars
1988 ABC Bouncing Balls
1991 Basketball, Baseball, Football
1992 Pumpkins (recreation of 1945 Pumpkin Balloon), The Pinheads
1993 Wiggle Worm
1994 Cloe the Holiday Clown
1995 FujiFilm's Blimp
1996 Americana Balloons
1999 Stars & Stripes Ornaments
2001 75th Anniversary Parade Stars
2002 Macy's Yellow Stars, Centennial Hot Air Balloon, Red Macy's Stars
2003 Pumpkins (second version), Blue Macy's Stars
2004 Alexander Mora's Turkey of World Peace (Winner of a 2004 Design a Balloon contest), Wiggle Worm (second version), Red Candy Cane, Kit "Red" Elf, C.J. "Yellow" Elf
2005 Cloe the Holiday Clown (second version), Strawberry/Pistachio Ice Cream Cone (third version)
2006 Yellow Macy's Stars, Raspberry Chocolate Swirl/Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream Cone, Handprint Spheres, Green Candy Cane
2007 Beach Ball Clusters, Planet Earth, Soccer Ball
2008 Gold Macy's Tri-Star, Green "Believe" Star
2009 Geometrics, Basketball (second version), Big Man Santa, Red "Believe" Stars
2010 Virginia O'Hanlon
2011 Gazer Elf (Winner of "Macy's Great American Elf Adventure" contest)
2012 Pumpkins (third version), Soccer Ball (second version)
2013 Football (second version)
2015 Yellow Macy's Stars (second version), Red "Believe" Stars (second version)
2016 Trixie the Bouncing Dog
2017 Blue & White Macy's Stars (second version), Gold Macy's Starflakes
2018 Americana Spheres (Second Version), The Christmas Chronicles (4 separate balloons of Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg), Nutcracker (From Universal's Holiday Parade featuring Macy's), Sunny the Snowpal
2019 Strawberry/Pistachio Ice Cream Cone (third version), Blue Starflakes
2021 Toni the Bandleader Bear, Santa Starflakes (alteration of existing Blue Starflake Balloons, planned for 2020), Tiptoe
2022 Pumpkins (fourth version), The Hottest Heart, Baby Shark, Dolly (also known as Hot Air Dolly), Green and Red Striped Candy Cane
2023 Cool Cats, Uncle Dan from Illumination's Migration

Heritage Balloons[edit]

"Heritage Balloons" is a sub-category of the Novelty Balloons that consist of recreations of classic Macy's Parade balloons aimed at a new audience. They have appeared since 1996, although the name was not used until 2016.

Year Balloon
1996 Harold the Fireman (recreation of 1948's "The Fireman" balloon), Flying Fish (recreation of 1950's "Flying Fish" balloon)
2000 The Holiday Elf (recreation of 1940s Gnome balloon, later named Charlie "Blue" Elf)
2001 Toy Soldier (recreation of 1950s Toy Soldier), Happy Hippo (recreation of 40's Hippo Balloon)
2002 Uncle Sam (recreation of 1930s Uncle Sam balloon)
2003 Turkey (recreation of the 1950s Gorgeous Gobbler balloon), Freda the Dachshund (recreation of 1950s Dachshund balloon)
2007 Arrrtie the Pirate (recreation of 1940s Pirate balloon)
2011 Harold the Policeman (recreation of 1940s "Officer PAL" balloon)
2012 Rex the Happy Dragon (recreation of older Happy Dragon balloon)
2013 Happy Hippo (second Version)
2015 Arrtie the Pirate (second version)
2016 Felix the Cat (second version)
2017 Harold the Baseball Player (recreation of 1940's "The Baseball Player" balloon)
2019 Smokey Bear (second version)

Blue Sky Gallery[edit]

Year Balloon Artist
2005 Humpty Dumpty Tom Otterness
2007 Rabbit Jeff Koons
2008 Figure with Heart Keith Haring
2010 Kaikai and Kiki Takashi Murakami
2011 B. Tim Burton
2012 Companion KAWS
2018 Little Cloud FriendsWithYou
2019 Love Flies Up to the Sky Yayoi Kusama

Falloon[edit]

A falloon, a portmanteau of "float" and "balloon", is a float-based balloon. They were introduced in 1986.

Year Falloon
1986 The Chipmunk Adventure
1990 Paddington Bear, The Wicked Witch of the West
1991 The Magical World of Mother Goose, Sporting Life
1993 Little Drummer Boy, Elf-in-the-Box
1994 Sea Venture
1995 M&M's Chocolate Colorworks
1996 The Family Channel (Later Fox Family) Snow Family Holiday
1997 The Grinch, The World of Wiggle
1998 M&M's Network, Heimlich, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
1999 Pets.com sock puppet
2000 Greendog
2001 World of Greendog (second version), Santaland Express with Percy, the Poor Little Penguin
2003 Percy & the P-Birds
2004 Universal Orlando Resort's Holiday Beat (second version of Little Drummer Boy), NFL Classic
2005 Big Apple (third version), Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
2008 Smurf Mushroom House, Bolt
2010 Northern Lights Jukebox (Universal Orlando Resort Only)
2011 Universal Orlando Resort's P.B. Polar Bear
2012 Goldfish On Parade
2013 A World at Sea, Snowman (Universal Orlando Resort Only)
2017 Sour Patch Kids: Parade Day Mischief
2019 Blue's Clues & You!
2022 The Wondership

Balloonicle[edit]

A balloonicle, a portmanteau of "balloon" and "vehicle", is a self-powered balloon vehicle. They were introduced in 2004.

Year Balloonicle
2004 Weebles' Tibbey, Tooey and Bumpus
2005 Snowbo
2006 Energizer Bunny
2010 Kool-Aid Man, Gold Ornament, Blue Ornament
2011 Sledding Aflac Duck
2013 Thanksgivukkah Dreidel[41]
2014 Ice Skating Aflac Duck (second version), Cloe the Holiday Clown (third version, first time as a balloonicle)
2015 Tom Turkey (Universal Orlando Resort Only)
2016 Mother Ginger from The Nutcracker ballet
2017 Aflac Duck (third version)
2018 Go Bowling (Six bowling pins and one bowling ball), Sinclair Oil's Baby Dinos
2022 The Cheese Touch (part of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon), Striker the U.S. Soccer Star (from Fox Sports)

Floalloonicle[edit]

A "floalloonicle", a portmanteau of "float", "balloon" and "vehicle", is a self-powered balloon vehicle structured around a float. They were introduced in 2021.

Year Floalloonicle
2021 Heinz Gravy Pirates

Performers and acts[edit]

Santa Claus' arrival at the parade's finale marks the start of the Christmas season

In addition to the well-known balloons and floats, the parade also features live music and other performances. College and high school marching bands from across the country participate in the parade.[42] The television broadcasts feature performances by established and up-and-coming singers and bands. The Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall are a classic performance (having performed annually since 1957[43] as the last pre-parade act to perform, followed by a commercial break), as are cheerleaders and dancers chosen by the National Cheerleaders Association from various high schools across the country. The parade always concludes with the arrival of Santa Claus to ring in the Christmas and holiday season (except for the 1932 parade, when Santa led the parade).[44] Since 2017, the Macy's Singing Christmas Tree choir precedes Santa Claus as the final performer of the parade, except 2022 and 2023 when they performed second-to-last.

On the NBC telecast from in front of the flagship Macy's store on Broadway and 34th Street, the marching bands perform live music. Most "live" performances by musicals and individual artists lip-sync to the studio, soundtrack or cast recordings of their songs,[45] due to the technical difficulties of attempting to sing into a wireless microphone while in a moving vehicle (performers themselves typically perform on the floats with the exceptions being the Santa's Sleigh float and the Tom Turkey float); the NBC-flagged microphones used by performers on floats are almost always non-functioning props.[46] Although rare, recent parade broadcasts have featured at least one live performance with no use of recorded vocals.[47]

Television coverage[edit]

Tom the Turkey and Underdog arriving at Macy's Herald Square during the 1979 edition of the parade.

More than 44 million people typically watch the parade on television on an annual basis. It was first televised locally in New York City in 1939 as an experimental broadcast on NBC's W2XBS (now WNBC).[48] No television stations broadcast the parade in 1940 or 1941, but local broadcasts resumed when the parade returned in 1945 after the wartime suspension.[49][50] The parade began its network television appearances on CBS in 1948, the year that major, regular television network programming began.[51][52] NBC has been the official broadcaster of the event since 1953. However, CBS (which has a studio in Times Square) also carries unauthorized coverage as The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS.[53] The parade committee can endorse an official broadcaster as the parade takes place in public (however, they cannot award exclusive rights as other events, such as sporting events, which take place inside restricted-access stadiums, have the authority to do so). The rerouting of the parade starting from 2012 (see below) moved the parade out of the view of CBS's cameras and thus made it significantly more difficult for the network to cover the parade. However, the route now passes along the west side of the network's Black Rock headquarters building along Sixth Avenue (with the hosts stationed on a temporary tower platform at the Sixth/W. 53rd St. corner of the building), and CBS nevertheless continues to cover the parade as before.

Since 2003, the parade has been broadcast in Spanish on the sister network of NBCUniversal (Telemundo) hosted by María Celeste Arrarás from 2003 to 2006. The parade won nine Emmy Awards for outstanding achievements in special event coverage since 1979. Since 2020, the parade also provided audio description via a second audio program channel.[54]

At first, the telecasts were only an hour long. The telecast then expanded to two hours in 1961,[55] reduced to 90 minutes in 1962, reverted to two hours in 1965, and expanded to all three hours of the parade in 1969.[56] The event began to be broadcast in color in 1960.[57] NBC airs the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade live in the Eastern Time Zone as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as the network uses broadcast feeds from that time zone (which due to time differences starts at 10:00 a.m. AST), but tape delays the telecast elsewhere in the continental U.S. and territories from the Central Time Zone westward to allow the program to air in the same 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. timeslot across its owned-and-operated and affiliated stations (except for Guam, which airs it the day after Thanksgiving at 9:00 a.m. local time, as the territory is located west of the International Date Line and therefore a day ahead from the rest of the United States); since the morning program's expansion to three hours in 2000 (it eventually expanded to four hours in 2007), NBC's Today only airs for two hours on Thanksgiving morning, pre-empting the last two talk-focused hours of the show for the day until 2022, beginning in 2023 with the parade coverage beginning a half hour earlier, Today now broadcasts for 90 minutes that day (similar to its Saturday broadcasts). NBC began airing a same-day afternoon rebroadcast of the parade in 2009 (replacing the annual broadcast of Miracle on 34th Street, which NBC had lost the broadcast television rights to that year). CBS's unauthorized coverage airs live in most time zones, allowing viewers to see the parade as much as two hours before the official NBC coverage airs in their area; CBS still broadcasts the parade on delay on the West Coast, immediately after the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving game in even-numbered years when CBS carries it, or at 9:00 a.m. local time in odd-numbered years when they carry the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game.[53]

From 1963 to 1972, NBC's coverage was hosted by Lorne Greene (who was then appearing on NBC's Bonanza) and Betty White. David Hartman and Karen Grassle hosted the parade in 1974, With Ed McMahon serving as a man on the street host, He would become a main host in 1977, until 1981. Since 1982, NBC has appointed at least one of the hosts of Today to emcee the television broadcast, starting with Bryant Gumbel, who hosted the parade until 1984. From 1987 to 1997, NBC's coverage was hosted by longtime Today weather anchor Willard Scott. During that period, their co-hosts included Mary Hart, Sandy Duncan, and Today colleagues Deborah Norville and Katie Couric. In recent years, NBC's coverage has been hosted by Today anchors Matt Lauer (from 1998 to 2017), Meredith Vieira (from 2006 to 2010), Ann Curry (2011), Savannah Guthrie (since 2012) and Hoda Kotb (since 2018) as well as Today weather anchor Al Roker who usually joins the producers of the parade or the CEO of Macy's and special guests in the ribbon cutting ceremony. In 2022, Dylan Dreyer filled in for Roker, who was recovering due to health complications involving blood clots,[58] while Kotb hosted the ribbon cutting ceremony segment when the parade reached Herald Square, rather than when it usually takes place in the Upper West Side.

From the early 1970s until 1993, the television broadcast was produced and directed by Dick Schneider; since 1994, it has been executive produced by Brad Lachman (who has otherwise been known for producing reality television series), produced by Bill Bracken and directed by veteran sitcom director Gary Halvorson. Announcements during the telecast were first provided by Bill McCord, then followed in succession by Bill Wendell, Lynda Lopez (the telecast's only female announcer), and longtime Saturday Night Live and NBC staff announcer Don Pardo; from circa 2000 to 2010, announcer duties were helmed by Joel Godard (who also served as the announcer for Late Night with Conan O'Brien for much of that period), and then were assumed by Today announcer Les Marshak with the 2011 telecast. Milton DeLugg served as the telecast's music director until his death in 2015.

CBS's coverage was originally part of the All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade, a broadcast that included footage from multiple parades across North America, including parades at Detroit, Philadelphia and Disneyland (the latter was later replaced by Opryland USA in 1997 and after that Miami Beach), and taped footage of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade (taped usually the second or third weekend of November) and the Aloha Floral Parade in Honolulu (which usually took place in September). Beginning in 2004, however, CBS has focused exclusively on the Macy's parade, but avoids using the Macy's name due to the lack of an official license. To compensate for the fact that the Broadway and music performances can only appear on NBC, CBS adds their own pre-recorded performances (also including Broadway shows, although different from the ones that are part of the official parade and recorded off-site) to fill out the special.[59] With the lack of a live parade for 2020, CBS aired The CBS Thanksgiving Day Celebration—which was hosted by Kevin Frazier and Keltie Knight of Entertainment Tonight, and featured highlights and new performances.[60]

For the 1997 parade, MTV guest reporters, Beavis and Butt-head, with host Kurt Loder, provided their usual style of commentary on aspects of the parade, and of their take on Thanksgiving in general. The special, titled Beavis and Butt-head Do Thanksgiving, included a balloon of Beavis and Butt-head spectating from their couch. The balloon was not participating in the parade, but stationed on top of a building alongside the parade route.

Radio coverage is provided by Audacy's WINS (1010 AM) in New York City. It is one of the few times throughout the year in which that station breaks away from its all-news radio format.

From 2016 to 2019, Verizon produced a 360-degree virtual reality live telecast of the parade, with minimal commentary, made available through YouTube.[61] The 2019 edition, produced in cooperation with NBC, had more extensive production, adding hosts Terry Crews, Lilly Singh and Ross Matthews, also adding "virtual balloons" generated through viewers' votes.[62] Verizon's simulcast of the 2020 event ran in a traditional flat, single-perspective format, and was the very first to be broadcast internationally, not just in the United States, thru Verizon's and Macy's YouTube and Twitter handles. Verizon did not simulcast the 2021 event in either format.

The first live international broadcast of the parade occurred in 2020, when Philippine cable television channel TAP TV became the first foreign-based broadcaster to air the parade's live telecast. Before that, the broadcasts were delayed and aired on Black Friday on what is now CNN Philippines until 2013. In addition, delayed broadcasts are aired to United States military installations overseas thru American Forces Network hours following the original U.S. broadcast.

Current hosts[edit]

Past hosts[edit]

Parade route[edit]

The Parade has always taken place in Manhattan. The parade originally started from 145th Street in Harlem and ended at Macy's flagship in Herald Square (at the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and 34th Street), making a 6-mile (9.7 km) route.[5][better source needed]

In the 1930s, the balloons were inflated around 110th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, near the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The parade proceeded south on Amsterdam Avenue to 106th Street and turned east. At Columbus Avenue, the balloons had to be lowered to go under the Ninth Avenue El. Past the El tracks, the parade proceeded east on 106th Street to Central Park West and turned south to terminate at Macy's flagship.

A new route was established for the 2009 parade. From 77th Street and Central Park West, the route went south along Central Park to Columbus Circle, then east along Central Park South. The parade would then make a right turn at 7th Avenue and go south to Times Square. At 42nd Street, the parade turned left and went east, then at 6th Avenue turned right again at Bryant Park. Heading south on 6th Avenue, the parade turned right at 34th Street (at Herald Square) and proceeded west to the terminating point at 7th Avenue where the floats are taken down.[63] The 2009 route change eliminated Broadway completely, where the parade has traveled down for decades. The City of New York said that the new route would provide more space for the parade, and more viewing space for spectators. Another reason for implementing the route change is the city's subsequent transformation of Broadway into a pedestrian-only zone at Times Square.[64]

Another new route was introduced with the 2012 parade. This change is similar to the 2009 route, but eliminated Times Square altogether, instead going east from Columbus Circle along Central Park South, then south on Sixth Avenue to Herald Square.[65][66]

Balloon teams race through Columbus Circle due to higher winds in this flat area, making it an unsuitable observation site. New York City officials preview the parade route and try to eliminate as many potential obstacles as possible, including rotating overhead traffic signals out of the way. Viewing is restricted from 38th Street through the end of the parade route, as this area is used for the NBC telecast.[67]

Similar parades[edit]

Other American cities also have parades held on Thanksgiving, none of which are run by Macy's. The nation's oldest Thanksgiving parade (the Gimbels parade, which has had many sponsors over the years, and is now known as the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade) was first held in Philadelphia in 1920. Other cities with parades on the holiday include the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago, Illinois and parades in Plymouth, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and Fountain Hills, Arizona. There is also a second Thanksgiving balloon parade within the New York metropolitan area, the UBS balloon parade in Stamford, Connecticut, located 30 miles (48 km) away; that parade is held the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so as not to compete with the parade in New York City. It usually does not duplicate any balloon characters. The Celebrate the Season Parade, held the last Saturday in November in Pittsburgh, was sponsored by Macy's from 2006 to 2013 after Macy's bought the Kaufmann's store chain that had sponsored that parade prior to 2006.

Universal's Holiday Parade Featuring Macy's[edit]

Since 2002, Macy's Studios has partnered with the Universal Orlando Resort (owned by NBC parent NBCUniversal) to bring balloons and floats from New York City to the theme park in Florida every holiday season in an event known as the Macy's Holiday Parade. The parade is performed daily and includes the iconic Santa Claus float. Performers from the Orlando area are cast as various clowns, and the park used to invite guests to be "balloon handlers" for the parade.[68] In 2017, the Macy's Holiday Parade was renamed to Universal's Holiday Parade Featuring Macy's. In 2020, as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the parade could not be run. Instead, a walkthrough experience known as Universal's Holiday Experience Featuring Macy's Balloons took place throughout the holiday season, displaying various floats and balloons that would normally be seen in the parade.

In popular culture[edit]

  • The 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, begins with the parade, as do most of its remakes. The film portrays the real Santa Claus being hired to work at Macy's after its own Santa impersonator gets drunk during the parade. NBC, in its telecasts, often showed the original 1947 film on Thanksgiving afternoon, following its coverage of the parade and the National Dog Show.
  • The 1984 film Broadway Danny Rose features a sequence in which Danny (Woody Allen) and Tina (Mia Farrow) are chased into a warehouse containing Parade materials and helium gas supplies; near the end of the film Tina is at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade itself. At the 1982 Parade, in which Sammy Davis, Jr. is briefly seen, Milton Berle, who has a small guest role in the film playing himself, was also featured in the parade but is not seen in this sequence.
  • The parade is featured in the 1987 children's book We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and its animated film adaptation where Rex mistakenly befriends a dinosaur balloon.
  • In the 1994 Seinfeld episode "The Mom and Pop Store", Elaine wins a spot on the parade route for her boss, Mr. Pitt, to hold the Woody Woodpecker balloon.
  • The first Thanksgiving-themed episode of Friends centered on the accidental release of the (unused at the time) "Underdog" balloon.
  • "Macy's Day Parade" is a song by Green Day.
  • In 2008, a Coca-Cola CGI ad aired in the United States during Super Bowl XLII. The commercial's plot centered around Underdog and fictional Stewie Griffin balloons chasing a Coke bottle-shaped balloon through New York City. The spot ended with a Charlie Brown balloon holding the Coke balloon. The advertisement won a Silver Lion Award at the annual Lions International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France, that year, and the clip of the commercial with the Griffin balloon was featured in a Macy's commercial in October 2008 (along with clips from Miracle on 34th Street, I Love Lucy, Seinfeld and other media where Macy's was mentioned). The commercial was also referenced in a 2011 episode of Family Guy. Stewie, one of its main characters, is seen watching the parade only to see the balloon of himself in the parade.
  • In the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters, the Ghostbusters fight a haunted balloon parade including several Macy's balloons from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Portfolio of Brad Lachman-produced programs". Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  2. ^ Grippo, Robert (2004). Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. San Francisco, CA: Arcadia Publishing. p. 9. OL 3313633M.
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  4. ^ "Santa Claus Will Formally Enter New York in Macy's Parade". The Courier-News. Bridgewater, NJ. November 26, 1924. p. 2. Retrieved November 28, 2019 – via newspapers.com open access.
  5. ^ a b Klein, Christopher (November 26, 2014). "The First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade". HISTORY. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  6. ^ Nigro, Carmen (November 23, 2010). "Thanksgiving Ragamuffin Parade". New York Public Library. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  7. ^ Stamp, Jimmy (November 27, 2013). "The Puppeteer Who Brought Balloons to the Thanksgiving Day Parade". Smithsonian. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  8. ^ "Today on the Radio". The New York Times. November 25, 1932. p. 40. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  9. ^ "Radio Today". The New York Times. November 20, 1999. p. 54. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
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  11. ^ "On the Radio". The New York Times. November 22, 1951. p. 58. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  12. ^ "MAYOR PLAYS ROLE OF DRAGON SLAYER; Stabs Huge Macy Balloon Into Rubber Scrap as Store Gives Up Annual Parade". The New York Times. November 14, 1942. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  13. ^ "Get Set, Children, and Your Parents, Too; Genii Are Coming in Thanksgiving Parade". The New York Times. November 14, 1945. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
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  29. ^ Henderson, Cydney. "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade earns praise for broadcasting same-sex kiss". USA Today. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  30. ^ Evans, Greg (September 14, 2020). "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade To Be Presented As NBC Television Special: No Parade Route, No Kids, Giant Balloons Tied To Special Vehicles – Update". Deadline. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
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  33. ^ Ray, Alyssa (November 23, 2023). "Fans Can't Get Enough of Sheryl Lee Ralph as Thanksgiving Parade's First Black Mrs. Claus". Parade.
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Further reading

External links[edit]

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