Cher, Jon Batiste To Perform At Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: What To Know About This Year's Festivities

Topline

Cher, Jon Batiste and a half twelve Broadway casts will header nan 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade successful New York City, group to see hundreds of floats, characters, clowns and marching bands erstwhile it kicks disconnected a half hr earlier than its accustomed showtime.

Key Facts

What To Watch For

The 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will measurement disconnected from 77th Street and Central Park West astatine 8:30 a.m. Thursday, November 23. The convoy will march 2.5 miles to Columbus Circle, turning onto Central Park South and past down 6th Avenue earlier ending connected 7th Avenue successful beforehand of Macy’s successful Herald Square.

Big Number

27.7 million. That's really galore group watched past year's Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade connected NBC and Peacock, Variety reported. It was nan most-watched parade successful nan past 5 years and performers included Gloria Estefan, Paula Abdul, Big Time Rush, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots and Ziggy Marley.

Key Background

Macy's first began nan Thanksgiving Day parade successful Manhattan’s Herald Square successful 1924. There were master bands and unrecorded animals borrowed from nan Central Park Zoo included in nan early years, and Santa watched connected from nan pavilion astatine nan 34th Street shop entrance. Balloons replaced unrecorded animals successful 1927. The festivities were broadcast connected section power stations successful nan 30s and 40s, barring a three-year stoppage during World War II amid shortages of helium and rubber. NBC began covering nan arena successful 1953 and it has since go 1 of television’s oldest yearly traditions. Between 2 and 3 cardinal group line nan parade way each year to watch successful person.

Surprising Fact

In nan early years of nan parade, organizers struggled pinch what to do pinch nan elephantine balloons. The first year, they were simply released into nan atmosphere. From 1928 to 1932, they were designed to emergence astir 2,000 feet and past slow deflate. Spectators would follow nan balloons and hold for them to travel down, past return them for a $100 reward—the balanced of astir $1,800 today. It took days for nan balloons, which successful 1928 included a 60-foot tiger and 25-foot-high ghost, to travel down. Four had landed and been recovered by December 1, 1928, nan New York Times reported, and nan shade was seen floating retired to sea.

Further Reading

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