The pilgrims arrive for another Turkey Day in NYC, hoping this year not to get wet (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
77th St. & Central Park West to 34th St. & Seventh Ave.
Thursday, November 25, free, 9:00 am – 12 noon
212-494-4495
www.macys.com
In 1924, a bunch of Macy’s employees joined forces and held the first Macy’s Christmas Parade, as it was then known. This year Macy’s celebrates the eighty-fourth edition of this beloved American event. (For those of you going crazy trying to figure out how 1924 to 2010 makes 84, the parade was canceled from 1942 through 1944 because of World War II.) This year’s lineup features such floats as the Pillsbury Doughboy, Kung Fu Panda, “Super Cute” Hello Kitty, Kermit the Frog, Horton the Elephant, Spider-Man, Snoopy, and Pikachu along with such floats as 123 Sesame Street, Jolly Polly Pirate Ship, Elves Raise the Roof, Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure, and Mount Rushmore’s American Pride, all essentially advertising for your holiday dollars. Also participating in the fun will be a dozen marching bands, tens of thousands of cheerleaders, the Big Apple Circus, the U.S. Pizza Team, lots and lots of clowns, and lip-synched performances by such celebrities as India.Arie, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots, Miranda Cosgrove, Arlo Guthrie, Kylie Minogue, Eric Hutchinson, Jessica Simpson, Michael Grimm, Gladys Knight, Kanye West, and various Broadway musical casts.
To get a head start on the parade, head on over to Central Park West and Columbus Ave. between 77th & 81st Sts. the day before, November 24, from approximately 3:00 to 10:00 to check out the Big Balloon Blow-up. Watching the annual inflation-eve blow-up of Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons is a growing tradition, with crowds getting bigger and bigger every year, but it’s still a thrill to see the giant characters raised from the ground, reborn every Thanksgiving to march in a parade viewed by millions and millions of people around the world.