When is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2024? What to know before you go or livestream the event

The 98th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will return to its usual 2.5-mile route for the annual holiday tradition in New York City.
The annual event is back with its largest lineup of over 5,000 volunteers, 17 featured character balloons, 22 floats, 15 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 11 marching bands and 10 performance groups from several stars, including Santa Claus.
Plus, there are several new floats and balloons to look forward to this year.
Here is how you can watch the festivities this year from your couch or the New York City parade route.
The 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28 and runs until approximately noon.
The parade will be broadcast at the same time in all U.S. time zones. There will also be a replay of the parade from 2-5 p.m.
There are two channels available to catch the parade in English and Spanish languages.
NBC and Telemundo will broadcast the parade.
NBC’s streaming service Peacock will livestream the parade starting at 8:30 a.m.
You also can watch NBC on other streaming platforms, such as Fubo TV, which offers a free trial and has live TV and DVR functions, so viewers can watch the parade in real-time or on-demand.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, while in its 98th year running, has been televised since 1948.
There were only two years the parade was not held. It was suspended from 1942-1944 to conserve materials for World War II.
This was due to the increased popularity it got after it was featured in the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street.”
“Today” hosts Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker will host for NBC.
During the Telemundo simulcast, the network’s Carlos Adyan and Andrea Meza will host the show.
It begins at West 77th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan. The parade will make its way south along 8th Avenue before turning down 59th Street at Columbus Circle.
The remainder of the Thanksgiving Day Parade will travel south down 6th Avenue, ending at Macy’s Herald Square.
The parade will feature six new balloons, four new balloonicles, seven new floats and dozens of performers and marching bands.
One of the new balloons in particular is Disney’s “Minnie Mouse,” who will make her Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade debut this year.
Floats such as “Dora’s Fantastical Rainforest” and “Wednesday’s Feast” will also debut this year. “Wednesday’s Feast” comes right as the show which the float is based on announced that it will be premiering its second season on Netflix as early as September 2025.
There will be 28 performers, including big names, such as Idina Menzel, Jimmy Fallon & The Roots, Kylie Minogue, The Temptations and T-Pain.
There will also be 11 marching bands.
The first giant Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon was of the popular 1920s cartoon character “Felix the Cat.” According to NPR’s “Morning Edition,” he joined the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927.
“Felix the Cat” last reprised his role in the parade in 2016.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is not a publicly ticketed event. If there are tickets for prime viewing spots of the parade at Herald Square, they are usually given to friends and family of Macy’s employees, parade performers and politicians.
It is possible, however, to view the parade for free along the 2.5 mile parade route.
People usually line up starting at 6 a.m. at Central Park West, which is a prime viewing spot, to watch the parade on Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving is expected to be a wet day in New York.
Forecasters from the National Weather Service are calling for rain with a high of 49 degrees and a low of 40 degrees.
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