One of NYC’s most beloved holiday traditions, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – which attracts more than three-and-a-half million people each year on its two-and-a-half-mile route from 77th Street and Central Park West to the retailer’s flagship store on 34th Street at Herald Square, and over 50 million viewers at home watching its simulcast on NBC (since 1952), Peacock, and in Spanish on Telemundo – returns this year for its 99th annual installment on Thursday, November 27, beginning at 8:30 am and running through noon, in all time zones, with an encore telecast airing at 2 pm (ET/PT).
Hosted by the TODAY show’s Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker, the event will feature eleven marching bands from across the country and around the world, 33 groups of clowns, 34 larger-than-life character balloons, assorted colors of Macy’s stars as high as a three-story building, and an exciting array of 28 themed floats, concluding with the appearance of Santa Claus on his sleigh to kick off the Christmas season.
Among the special performances will be numbers by the Broadway casts of Buena Vista Social Club, Just in Time, and Ragtime, along with A Chorus Line: The Next Generation, led by creative director and choreographer Baayork Lee, acrobatics by Circus Vazquez, and precision dancing by the Radio City Rockettes, celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.
There will also be music and dance appearances by the celebrity line-up of Drew Baldridge, Matteo Bocelli, Colbie Caillat, Ciara, Gavin DeGraw, Russell Dickerson, Meg Donnelly, Mr. Fantasy, Foreigner, Debbie Gibson, Mickey Guyton, Christopher Jackson, Jewel, Lil Jon, Kool & the Gang, Darlene Love, Roman Mejia, Taylor Momsen, Tiler Peck, Busta Rhymes, Calum Scott, Shaggy, Lauren Spencer Smith, Luísa Sonza, Teyana Taylor, and EJAE, Audrey Nuna, & Rei Ami (the singing voices of HUNTR/X from KPOP DEMON HUNTERS).
In addition to the main event on Thanksgiving, NBC and Peacock will air the primetime special Countdown to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Wednesday, November 26, starting at 8 pm. Broadcast live from the starting line at Central Park, viewers will get a first look at, and the stories behind, the floats, balloons, and bands.
