This year marks the 99th anniversary of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The famous parade is hosted on the morning of Thanksgiving. The parade consists of large balloons, floats, marching bands and some of America’s favorite performers. According to USA Today, “This year’s lineup, the 99th edition, will feature 32 balloons, 3 ballonicles, 27 floats, 4 specialty units, 33 clown groups, and 11 marching bands.”
The parade begins at 8:30 am and ends at roughly noon and is hosted in Manhattan, New York.
The parade began in 1924 in order to draw attention to the Macy’s store. Initially, there were live animals that were presented walking down the parade route. Three years after the creation of the Macy’s parade they began incorporating large balloon animals and other popular fictional characters. The largest balloon to have flown, Olive Oyl & Swee’Peaknown, is 102 feet tall.
Another major part of the parade are the floats. The floats hold large numbers of dancers, performers, as well as characters from popular shows and movies. All of the floats and balloons take architects the whole year leading up to the parade to create. Prep work takes place in a huge warehouse in New Jersey.
It is said to take more than half a million dollars to supply helium to all of the balloons. The estimated price for the entire parade adds up to over $13 million dollars but the creators of the parade refuse to release the actual amount of money because “it is a gift to the nation.”
The parade acts as a kickoff to the holiday season for most Americans. It is hosted by the famous store chain known as Macy’s, hence the name of the parade. Millions of people tune in to this broadcasted event. They broadcast it along many different platforms including live on NBC as well as available on streaming network Peacock. The commonly used channel, NBC, attracts millions of viewers nationwide.
Proceeding the Thanksgiving season comes Christmas and what better way to introduce the Christmas season then to end with the annual siting of Santa Clause.
