Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade

November 25, 1993 November 24, 1994 ... November 27, 2003	To those of us carrying the Pink Panther in 1994: Can you remember where you were when this picture was taken?
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• 11/17/99 - I found two sites that link to this page. (Thank you!) One is from Deb Thompson, who chooses "best sites" in several categories each month for her Monthly Review -- my Parade Page was the "best seasonal site" for November 1998. The other is from an About.com educators guide (which contains quite a few good parade links).
• 9/3/99 - I finally bought a scanner last month, so now my personal parade photos are on the web! (See below.)
• 4/22/98 - I received a request for a videotape of the 1986 Macy*s Parade. If anyone has one, or any info on how to find one, please contact me.

• The parade starts at the Museum of Natural History, on 77th and 81st Sts. at Central Park West. It heads south alongside Central Park. The balloons are held close to the ground, to avoid trees and crosswinds as much as possible. At Columbus Circle (on the southwest corner of Central Park), the parade turns onto Broadway.
• At this point, the balloons are raised to their full height. The parade continues southeast, through Times Square, to the Macy*s building at Herald Square (where Broadway intersects with 34th St. and the Avenue of the Americas).
• There's a right turn onto 34th St, and another right onto 7th Ave, where the balloons and floats are taken down and packed up.
• Approximately 2 million spectators line the 2.5 mile parade route on every Thanksgiving morning. Another 50 million people watch on TV.
• 1999 was the parade's 73rd year.
• 1993 was the windiest parade on record, but I think there was more balloon damage in 1995. In both of those years, Sonic the Hedgehog crashed into a street light just south of Columbus Circle.

• Spider Man is the parade's longest balloon at 78 feet.
• The Pink Panther's inner tube is 40 feet in diameter, and his tail is 66 feet long.
• Clifford the Big Red Dog is 60 feet long. He is wearing a 65 foot leash.
• Dexter now holds the title of the biggest balloon by volume -- 21,700 cubic feet of helium.
• The Cat in the Hat's bow tie is 16 feet wide, and his hat is 2 stories high.

• The Night Before - Balloon inflation starts on 77th and 81st Sts., off Central Park West. It gets REALLY crowded, and the streets are only open to pedestrians from 6:00pm to 11:00pm. But it's your best chance to see the balloons up close, unless you're carrying one.
• Midnight - The Lincoln Tunnel closes partially so Macy*s can transport the floats from the Parade Studio in Hoboken to their starting positions on Central Park West.
• 3:00am - 6:00am - I haven't seen it myself, but I have heard that this is the time that die-hard parade fans show up for prime viewing spots along the parade route.
• 6:00am - 6:30am - Balloon handlers and clowns arrive at Macy*s Brooklyn and put on their costumes. This is also the time the public starts showing up to the sidelines in force.
• 7:00am - 8:00am - Buses take balloon handlers and clowns to the beginning of the parade route.
• 8:30am - 9:30am - Balloon handlers meet their captains and pilots. (The captains are experienced Macy*s volunteers, and the pilots are professionals.) Every handler grabs a free line. A crew removes the sandbags and nets holding the balloons down.
• 9:00am - 10:30am - Balloons slowly enter the parade. Don't stop at an intersection if at all possible, the crosswinds are nasty! Columbus Circle is the worst part of the parade, because of all the open, unshielded space. It only takes about an hour to "march" the entire route once your balloon starts, but it certainly seems to be much longer.
• 11:00am - 1:00pm - Smile at the cameras when you pass Macy*s! Turning the last two corners can be tough; a New York City street seems a lot narrower when you're navigating a huge balloon through it. Balloons are deflated on 7th Ave. between 34th and 35th Sts. Balloon handlers get back on the buses (which are now waiting about a block away) and go back to the Brooklyn store to take off their costumes.

1993		Ronald McDonald (1994 picture) 16 people
1994		Pink Panther 8 people			Sonic the Hedgehog 4 people			Cat in the Hat 4 people
		Barney (yeah, yeah, I know...) 4 people			Quik Bunny 4 people			Snoopy 8 people
Me in the 1994 parade, carrying the Pink Panther. In the left-most picture I'm standing with Terry.					My sister Allie in the 1994 parade, carrying Snoopy's banner.
1995		The tickets that got us into the "good seats" at the 1995 parade. It was awesome, but marching in it was much better.

Mediabridge Infosystems, Inc. has a comprehensive guide to holidays in New York City. Buried within it is a ton of parade info and zillions of photos.

• Thanksgiving Guide - includes a parade map, plus photos from past parades.
• Christmas 1994 Guide - includes articles about the best and worst balloons of the 1994 parade.
• Thanksgiving 1994 Report by the New York Web - not exactly comprehensive, or even complete, but there are a few nice pictures.

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