Macy's Announced Lineup and What's New for the 93rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

This iconic Thanksgiving tradition kicks off the holidays with performances, balloons, floats, and Santa Claus’s first in-person appearance of the season.

By Katelin Walling November 12, 2019

Macy’s recently announced the official lineup of the 93rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, including musical guests, performance groups, the participating marching bands, the character balloons, floats, clowns, and more. The parade will be held on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, Nov. 28) from 9am-12pm, and will be aired on NBC with hosts Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker.

Balloons debuting for the 2019 Thanksgiving Day Parade include:

Astronaut Snoopy by Peanuts Worldwide
Green Eggs and Ham by Netflix
Love Flies Up to the Sky by world-renowned artist Yayoi Kusama
SpongeBob SquarePants & Gary by Nickelodeon

Plus, in celebration of his 75th birthday, Smokey Bear, a heritage balloon and fan favorite, will return to the skies over Manhattan.

New floats in this year’s parade include:

Blue’s Clues & You by Nickelodeon
Home Sweet Home by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
Rexy in the City by COACH, the first luxury brand to have a float in the parade
The Brick-Changer by LEGO
Toy House of Marvelous Milestones by New York Life

Eleven marching bands will join the festivities, including:

Awesome Second Time Arounders from St. Petersburg, FL
Blue Springs High School from Blue Springs, MD
Catalina Foothills High School from Tucson, AZ
Franklin Regional High School from Murrysville, PA
Macy’s Great American Marching Band
Madison Central High School Band from Richmond, KY
Martin Luther King Jr. High School from Lithonia, GA
Morgan State University from Baltimore, MD
NYPD Marching Band
Ronald Reagan High School from San Antonio, TX
Western Carolina University from Cullowhee, NC

This year’s performers include Billy Porter, the Black Eyed Peas, Lea Michele, Idina Menzel, Chicago, Chris Janson, Chris Young, Ciara, NCT 127, That Girl Lay Lay, and TLC. The classic Thanksgiving Day Parade clowns, Spirit of America Cheer, Spirit of America Dancers, the Alvin Ailey School, and the Big Apple Circus round out the parade lineup.

If you want to catch a glimpse of the parade in person, it will start at West 77th Street on the Upper West Side, marching south on Central Park West to 59th Street. Then, it will head east along Central Park South, turn south through Midtown on Sixth Avenue, and then head west on 34th Street where it will end in front of Macy’s in Herald Square. Of course, you can always stay cozy in your pajamas at home and watch it live with Guthrie, Kotb, and Roker!

And, if you’re in Manhattan, don’t forget to catch a glimpse of the balloons being inflated the night before on the Upper West Side!

Main image: It takes 90 people to handle Ronald McDonald as he floats through the skies in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Kent Mille