Graphic by LollyChristmas.com; Photo via NBCUniversal

It feels like the year is flying by—Thanksgiving is just days away! To help build more anticipation for the big day, and the “official start” of the holiday season, we have compiled all of the details for the upcoming 97th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!  The time-honored tradition will feature a big line-up this year filled with exciting floats, balloons, marching bands, performers, and some of your favorite stars as they celebrate throughout the busy streets of New York City. 🦃✨

“TODAY” show anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker will return as hosts of the three-hour telecast, which will be simulcast on Peacock. Nationwide audiences can also catch an encore of the celebration when NBC airs an encore at 2 p.m. ET/PT.

This year’s Macy’s Parade will feature 5,000 volunteers, 16 featured character balloons, 26 fantastic floats, 32 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 12 marching bands and 9 performance groups.  The legendary star of music, film, stage and television, CHER, will kick off the festivities by performing one of her holiday hits from her album, Christmas, at 34^th Street!

CHERUpdate (11/22/23): Jabari Banks of Peacock’s Bel-Air, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots and Jax have been added as performers to the Macy’s Parade.  Lacey Chabert, Andy Cohen, Leslie Odom Jr., Abigail Spencer and Kenan Thompson & Kel Mitchell have also be added to the lineup, along with Paris 2024 Olympic Hopefuls in Beach Volleyball, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, and Paralympic Hopeful in Track & Field Ezra Frech.

Check out more information about this year’s celebrity guests, performers and attractions below!

(L-R) David Foster & Katharine McPhee; Brandy; Bell Biv Devoe (Photos: Macy’s)
Celebrity talent at the Macy’s Parade will include*:

• Abigail Spencer
• Alex Smith
• Amanda Shaw
• Andy Cohen
• Ashley Park
• Bell Biv DeVoe
• Brandy
• Cher
• Chicago
• David Foster & Katharine McPhee
• Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
• Enhypen
• En Vogue
• Ezra Frech

(L-R) Jon Batiste; Pentatonix; Jessie James Decker (Photos: Macy’s)• Jabari Banks
• Jax
• Jessie James Decker
• Jimmy Fallon and the Roots 
• Jon Batiste
• Kelly Cheng
• Kel Mitchell
• Kenan Thompson
• Lacey Chabert
• Leslie Odom Jr.
• Miss America Grace Stanke
• Muppets of Sesame Street®
• Paul Russell
• Pentatonix
• Sara Hughes

(L-R) & Juliet; Gad and Rannells from Gutenberg! (Photos: Playbill)

Each and every year, the Macy’s Parade provides a unique Broadway experience by bringing some of the show-stopping performances to dazzle audiences on 34^th Street! For this year’s national broadcast, viewers will be treated to numbers from “& Juliet,” “Back to the Future: The Musical,” “How to Dance in Ohio,” “Shucked,” “Spamalot,” as well as the iconic Radio City Rockettes®.

Stars of Broadway’s “Gutenberg! The Musical!,” Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, will act as special live correspondents along the parade route.

Radio City Rockettes (Photo: NBC)

The Macy’s Parade will include performances from marching band ensembles throughout the country, including—Alabama A&M University Marching Maroon and White (Huntsville, AL); The Band Directors Marching BandTM (United States); Fishers High School Marching Tiger Band (Fishers, IN); Greendale High School Marching Band (Greendale, WI); Jenison High School Marching Band (Jenison, MI); Macy’s Great American Marching Band (United States); Mercer Island High School Marching Band (Mercer Island, WA); NYPD Marching Band (New York, NY); O’Fallon Township High School Marching Panthers (O’Fallon, IL); Rutgers University Marching Scarlet Knights (Piscataway, NJ); Stoneman Douglas Eagle Regiment High School Marching Band (Parkland, FL); and Texas Tech University Goin’ Band from Raiderland (Lubbock, TX).

There will also be performance groups, including—Big Apple Circus, Cornell Bhangra, MVSA Studios, Phantom Limb Company, Spirit of America, The Tap Dancing Christmas Trees and the Tiptoe Winter Guard.

Of course the iconic celebration can not end without an appearance from the one-and-only Santa Claus! The jolly man in red will close out the parade as he rings in the Christmas season!

Santa Claus (Photo: NBC)

This year four new floats will debut in the Macy’s Parade celebration, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem by Nickelodeon & Paramount; Palace of Sweets by Brach’s^® ; Igniting Memories by Solo Stove; and The Deliciously Delectable World of Wonka by Warner Bros. Pictures. There will also be seven new featured balloons, including Beagle Scout Snoopy by Peanuts Worldwide; Blue Cat & Chugs by Cool Cats, a digitally native character; Kung Fu Panda’s Po by Universal Pictures’ Dreamworks Animation; Leo by Netflix, Inc.; Monkey D. Luffy by Toei Animation Inc.; Pillsbury Doughboy^™ by Pillsbury^™; and Uncle Dan by Illumination.

There will also be many returning favorites, including Bluey, joined for the first time by her favorite “Keepy Uppy” red balloon, by BBC Studios; Diary Of A Wimpy Kid^® by Abrams Books; DINO and Baby DINO by HF Sinclair; Goku by Toei Animation Inc.; a Funko Pop!-inspired Grogu™ by Funko ; Chase from Paw Patrol^® by Spin Master & Nickelodeon; Pikachu™ & Eevee™ by The Pokémon Company International; Red Titan from “Ryan’s World” by Sunlight Entertainment and pocket.watch; Ronald McDonald^® by McDonald’s^® USA; SpongeBob SquarePants & Gary by Nickelodeon; and Stuart The Minion by Illumination.

You can visit macys.com/parade for information about the inflatables, floats, marching bands, behind-the-scenes previews, and more!  NBCUniversal has also announced that, in order to create a more inclusive experience for blind and visually impaired viewers, the network will present the full broadcast with live audio description on the Secondary Audio Program channel (SAP), provided by Descriptive Video Works. The broadcast will be available with additional audio narration, describing the rich visuals of the Parade.

 

Stay Merry,

All talent, performers, elements and information included are subject to change.*