Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Complete Guide

Marching bands, celebrity-filled floats, clowns, and the official arrival in town of Santa are all important parts of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

But it is the giant balloons, some as much as six stories high, that define the annual event. It’s bigger and better than ever in 2019 with three new balloons – Astronaut Snoopy, SpongeBob SquarePants and Gary, and Green Eggs and Ham – and new floats.

Performers include Emmy Award-winning Broadway and TV star Billy Porter and Grammy Award-winning band Black Eyed Peas.

Simply, it’s one of the best things about NYC at the holidays, including the arrival of Santa at the end of the parade, who signals the official start of this most magical time of the year, which also includes Hanukah and Kwanzaa.

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Again this year, the parade features more than a dozen giant character balloons; nearly 30 legacy balloons, balloonicles, balloonheads and trycaloons; 31 floats; more than 1,000 cheerleaders and dancers; more than 1,000 clowns; and more than a dozen marching bands and performance groups.

And it will be watched and enjoyed by more than three million spectators lining the streets of New York, and around 50 million more watching on TV.

Complete guide to

93rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2019 new balloons

Snoopy, the world’s favorite beagle, flies high as an astronaut, in honor of the 50th anniversary earlier this year of the Moon Landing and for future space missions. 

This is the eighth re-model of Snoopy, the beloved Charles M Schultz character, and it is literally out of this world.

Astronaut Snoopy is nearly 50 feet high and requires 90 handlers to keep him from heading into outer space.

Smokey the Bear returns for the first time since 1993, to honor the 75th anniversary of the campaign to remind us to prevent forest fires.

The Smokey Bear balloon, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, is 51 feet tall and 25 feet wide, requiring 40 handlers.

Even more balloons will be present at the as part of as Macy’s Blue Sky Gallery, a collection of high-flying artwork created in collaboration with renowned contemporary artists.

Renowned female contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama will showcase her artwork for the series this year with her Love Flies Up to the Sky balloon.

According to the Macy’s press release, “The design was developed by the artist from face motifs that appear in her ‘My Eternal Soul’ series of paintings–a body of work that she began in 2009. Vibrant and animated, the paintings embody Kusama’s innovative exploration of form and revolve around a tension between abstraction and figuration. The artist’s signature dots — which recur throughout her practice — are also featured prominently in the Macy’s Parade balloon design.”