The “most wonderful time of the year” kicked off Thursday, Nov. 23 with one of the nation’s most famous holiday events: the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Millions of spectators lined the 2.5 miles-long parade route, which started at 77th Street and Central Park West, turned on Central Park South at Columbus Circle, and headed down Sixth Avenue past Radio City Music Hall to 34th Street-Herald Square.
For the first time in the parade’s 97 year history, the spectacle started 30 minutes earlier at 830 a.m. because of a larger production. In all, the parade featured a whopping 16 larger-than-life character balloons, 26 floats, 32 heritage and novelty balloons, 12 marching bands, nine performance groups, and countless musical acts like Jax, Chicago, En Vogue, Brandy and even Cher.
Seven balloon newcomers like Beagle Scout Snoopy, Uncle Dan from Migration, Blue Cat and his best friend Chugs — the first-ever NFT character turned into a real-life Parade balloon — joined fan favorites Spongebob Squarepants and his sidekick Gary, Goku, Pikachu and Smokey Bear.
The iconic parade concluded with the highlight, Santa Claus, with his array of little helpers, bringing smiles to the faces of adults and kids.
Marjorie Llanera flew in with her mom, Jennifer, from Los Angeles, California, for mom-daughter bonding time. They secured a prime spot along the parade route on Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street at 545 a.m. Marjorie said she wanted to see the parade live when she heard that her favorite band, the South Korean boy band Enhypen, was part of the parade line-up.
“They’re one of my biggest music inspirations,” Marjorie told amNewYork Metro. “So I was like, I should head out to New York and see them.”
Unaccustomed to the seasonably cold New York City weather, both had to buy warmer jackets for the occasion.
“I bought this from Costco,” Marjorie said, pointing to her jacket. “And we went to Uniqlo.”
Morgan and Alexis Griffin from New Jersey camped out since 4 a.m. for their spot along the parade route. They attend the event every year, but it was the first for their friend Ryan Lohman from Phoenix, Arizona, who was visibly freezing.
“I’ve seen [the parade] all the time growing up,” Lohman said.
The Rodriguez family from Long Island also attended the parade for the first time, sporting matching turkey hats. They kicked the celebration off early, also attending the ceremonious balloon inflation on Wednesday.
“We had off from school yesterday. So we said, ‘let’s come in and see balloons being blown up,'” Elizabeth Rodriguez said.
“We saw [the hats] on the street when the balloons were getting blown up, and we thought it was nice,” Thomas Rodriguez said. “So we figured, let’s try it. Let’s have a happy time.”
Their son Patrick was looking forward to catching a glimpse of his favorite balloon character.
“I’m mostly looking for the Pikachu balloon,” Patrick said.
For the Drier family from Michigan, visiting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is part of the family holiday tradition. Dad Kurt Drier secured a coveted spot at 3:30 a.m. for his wife and three kids.
Drier lived in New York City in the 90’s, working as a model.
“When I had the children, I said, ‘The greatest time to be in New York City is always the holiday season, Thanksgiving and Christmas,'” Drier said. “[The kids] love the parade, and every Thanksgiving, we have pizza for Thanksgiving rather than turkey. Good New York City street pizza.”
But not all the vibes were celebratory. The iconic parade was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters who jumped the barriers on Sixth Avenue, poured fake blood and glued themselves to the street in opposition to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The group called for a ceasefire, before many were arrested.
