Report: Experiencing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in person for the first time

For myself and many others in America, Thanksgiving just wouldn’t feel right without the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This annual celebration features parade floats, giant balloons, celebrity and Broadway performances, and so much more. It’s as iconic as pumpkin pie or roasted turkey on this holiday.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. Attending the parade in person has been on my bucket list for a long time. This year, I finally witnessed it for myself.

I arrived in New York City a couple days before Thanksgiving. Already I could feel the buzz and see the ways parade production affects the city. There were already street closures and floats being assembled near Central Park.

A lot of locals skip out on the mayhem of attending the parade and instead enjoy the balloon inflation the night before Thanksgiving. This used to be a bit of a secret, but is now widely known and attended. Don’t expect to just casually walk into this experience. The line was cut off, and barriers were in place. Macy’s Studios employees and NYC Police were on hand to make sure things stayed orderly.

Although I’ve spent a good amount of time in New York City, I don’t know the city too well beyond the tourist areas. I was lucky enough to be invited into the grandstands to watch the parade, but it was quite a process getting there.

Although I expected street closures for cars on Thanksgiving, I was surprised at how many streets were closed to pedestrians as well. Some subway stop closures and a large portion of Central Park were entirely closed. If you plan on attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade yourself, be sure to do some research in advance so you don’t make the same mistakes I made.

One nice thing that came out of my error was my numerous interactions with Macy’s Studios employees and the New York Police Department. I asked a lot of them where to go and what to do. They were all happy to help. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade seems to be an immense sense of pride for the New York citizens working and attending the event.

As someone who has a background in the entertainment industry, I went into this experience knowing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a production made for television viewers. The in-person audience is not the priority. It is very different to experience this parade in person compared to a theme park parade (where the entire purpose is to entertain the people in attendance). With that in mind, some people might be disappointed by the following.

What you see on TV is primarily shot in Herald Square in front of the Macy’s store. Although the parade route is two-and-a-half miles long, the Herald Square location is the only place you’ll be able to witness some of it.

If you’re hoping to see performances from Broadway shows, this only happens in Herald Square before the parade arrives at that location. Although a lot of the celebrities do ride floats along the parade route, some only perform in Herald Square. Also obviously missing is live commentary by the “Today” show hosts that we’re used to hearing on TV.

What you do get to see anywhere along the parade route is all of the parade floats (often with celebrities onboard), marching bands, performance groups, iconic oversized character balloons and, of course, Santa Claus.

Going back to the priority of this parade being the TV production, this can affect the parade passing through as well. Commercial breaks can’t interrupt floats and balloons passing by Herald Square during the live TV broadcast. Therefore, I experienced some large gaps and an extended pauses during the parade for its entrance to be timed perfectly.

Since my assigned parade viewing spot wasn’t in Herald Square, I was hoping to visit that location later in the day to take a picture in front of the Macy’s store all decked out for the parade. Unfortunately, even into the evening that area was still blocked off as TV production was breaking down. But the Macy’s storefront is decked out all holiday season long if you were to return on a different day.

If you’d like to hear about more content from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, enjoy the interview I conducted with parade producer Jordan Dabby on an episode of “Dizney Coast to Coast” podcast.

As I mentioned, I’ve visited New York City a lot. But there was undoubtedly a different kind of energy around Manhattan on Thanksgiving Day. It was crazy. Sometimes bad crazy, but usually good crazy. As someone who loves the fragility of live entertainment and the work and infrastructure it takes to pull off something so temporary on such a grand scale, I was beyond thrilled to finally attend in person and I recommend doing it at least once if watching it is part of your Thanksgiving tradition. You can click here to keep track of future parade plans.

Jeff DePaoli is a live event producer and podcaster living in Los Angeles. He can be heard as the voice of Disney Trivia on Alexa as well as the host of “Dizney Coast to Coast” podcast, where he and his special guests share honest opinions on all things Disney at DePodcastNetwork.com.