The 92nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an American tradition, returns to kick off the holiday season on Thursday, Nov. 22 on NBC.
Hosted by Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker of NBC’s “Today,” the broadcast will run from 9 a.m. – noon in all time zones.
For this year’s march through New York City, the parade will include 16 giant character balloons; 43 novelty balloons, heritage balloons, balloonicles, balloonheads and trycaloons; 26 floats; 1,200 cheerleaders and dancers; over 1,000 clowns; and 12 marching bands – as well as the show-stopping Radio City Rockettes and their high-kicking magic.
This year’s performers
The parade will also be jam-packed with star power, with appearances by performers like Bad Bunny, Barenaked Ladies, Bazzi, Ally Brooke, Kane Brown, Brynn Cartelli, Jack & Jack, John Legend, Leona Lewis, Ella Mai, Tegan Marie, Martina McBride, Rita Ora, Carly Pearce, Pentatonix, Anika Noni Rose and the cast and Muppets of “Sesame Street,” Diana Ross with her children and extended family, Sugarland, Ashley Tisdale, Mackenzie Ziegler, and Johnny Orlando – plus a special appearance by the big guy, Santa Claus.
“We’re delighted to once again broadcast this extraordinary holiday tradition to viewers across the country,” said Dough Vaughan, executive vice president of special programs for NBC Entertainment. “The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marks the beginning of the holiday season, and we’re as excited as ever to celebrate with this incredible lineup of performers, bands, floats, balloons and more.”
New balloons
This year’s parade features a few new balloons, including Saiyan warrior Goku from “Dragon Ball Super: Broly.” The elf stars of “The Christmas Chronicles” on Netflix – Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo, and Hugg – will make their debut in the sky ahead of Santa Claus. Macy’s Blue Sky Gallery series will return for their seventh edition with Little Cloud, a creation with art collaborative FriendsWithYou.
Closing out the new inflatables this year include Sinclair Oil’s Baby Dino balloonicles, Universal Orlando Resort’s The Nutcracker, and the star of Macy’s Christmas celebrations, Sunny the Snowpal.
Returning balloons
Returning giant balloon characters for this year include:
- Charlie Brown
- “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
- Sinclair’s DINO
- The Elf on the Shelf
- Illumination Presents Dr. Seuss’ “The Grinch”
- “Jett” by Super Wings
- Olaf from Disney’s “Frozen”
- PAW Patrol
- Pikachu
- Pillsbury Doughboy
- Red Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger
- Ronald McDonald
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Toothless from DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
- DreamWorks “Trolls”
- Aflac Duck balloonicle
New floats
This year will also see four new floats join the parade lineup, including:
- Elf Pets by Elf on the Shelf
- Fantasy Chocolate Factory by Kinder (featuring Ashley Tisdale)
- “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” by Nickelodeon (featuring Jack & Jack)
- Splashing Safari Adventure by Kalahari Resorts and Conventions (featuring Ella Mai)
To learn more about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, visit Macys.com/Parade. To learn more about the broadcast, head to NBC.com/Macys-Thanksgiving-Day-Parade.
Hello: What is the theme for the parade this year? We are coming up from McKinney, Texas (just north of Dallas) to watch our grandaughter’s drill team from Reedy High School in Frisco, TX, ( all Dallas area). You may be interested to know she is a senior this year and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Lymphoma this past January. 4 plus months of hard chemo, she was declared cancer free in May and now 6 months later she will be marching down 6th Avenue in New York City. We are excited to be there watching from Gotham Hall viewing area. Her name is Skylar Allen and goes by Sky…..Sky’s the Limit.