Tim Burton’s B. Boy, stitched together in a London hospital on the Fourth of July from the remnants of children’s party balloons, will be making his Macy’s debut this year
77th St. & Central Park West to 34th St. & Seventh Ave.
Thursday, November 24, 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-fifth edition of this beloved American event. (For those of you going crazy trying to figure out how 1924 to 2011 makes 85, the parade was canceled from 1942 through 1944 because of World War II.) The 2011 lineup features such new giant balloons as the Aflac Duck, Paul Frank’s Julius, and Sonic the Hedgehog and the novelty balloons B. by Tim Burton, Harold the Policeman, and Gazer the Elf alongside such returnees as Clumsy Smurf, Kermit the Frog, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Pikachu with Poke Ball, Spider-Man, “Super Cute” Hello Kitty, the Kool-Aid Man, and Snoopy the Flying Ace. As part of the eighty-fifth anniversary celebration, a number of old-time classics will be back as well, including Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Popeye, the Pink Panther, and Felix the Cat. Among the Broadway shows that will present lip-synching floats are How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Newsies, Sister Act, and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Also making appearances will be Avril Lavigne, Cee Lo Green, Cobra Starship, Ingrid Michaelson, Mannheim Steamroller, Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Weir, Mary J. Blige, Michael Feinstein, Neil Diamond, and Shelby Lynne. The parade, which totals 11 marching bands, 15 giant balloons, 27 floats, 44 novelty balloonicles, 800 clowns, and 1,600 cheerleaders, begins at 9:00 am at 77th St. and Central Park West, cuts down Seventh Ave. to 42nd St., then heads toward the finish line at Herald Square.
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 23, 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.