BY: Adal Hussain, Chief Editor, 71st & Columbus Ave NYC 11/22/23
Giant balloons, fabulous floats, exciting entertainers and more are joining our all-star celebration. A massive line of people snaked around Columbus Avenue from 72nd to 76th streets near the American Museum of Natural History to watch the traditional Macy’s Balloon Inflation Celebration.
This 97th edition of the world’s largest parade, which typically draws some 3.5 million spectators to Manhattan, will feature 16 giant character balloons, 26 floats, 12 marching bands, 700 clowns and eight performance groups, Macy’s announced.
Everyone’s favorite parade balloons are getting inflated Wednesday afternoon on the Upper West Side.
Macy’s Balloon Inflation Celebration is taking place 12 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Sixteen featured helium balloons and 32 novelty and heritage balloons will be prepped for their big flight on Thanksgiving Day.
The parade kicks off at 8:30 a.m. beginning from 77th Street and Central Park West and proceeding two and a half miles south to finish in front of Macy’s at 34th Street-Herald Square.
Inside the float inflation area Wednesday, trucks of compressed helium were seen near partially inflated balloons, including Smokey Bear and Snoopy, which were under weighted-down nets.
The Following will be new featured balloons, Beagle Scout Snoopy (NEW), Blue Cat & Chugs (NEW), Uncle Dan (NEW), Monkey D. Luffy (NEW), Kung Fu Panda’s Po (NEW) and Pillsbury Doughboy(NEW).
Grammy-winner Jon Batiste is scheduled to kick off the event, with performances to follow by Bell Biv DeVoe, Brandy, Chicago, En Vogue, ENHYPEN, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, Jessie James Decker, Ashley Park with some Muppets from “Sesame Street,” Pentatonix, Paul Russell, Amanda.
700 clowns and one Santa Claus: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade hits NYC streets.
The 97th Macy’s Parade lineup will include 5,000 volunteers, 16 featured character balloons, 26 fantastic floats, 32 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 12 marching bands and nine performance groups. Joining these Macy’s Parade fixtures are some of the biggest stars in music, all welcoming in Santa Claus and the holidays.
Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban quelled fears about any additional threats.
“The NYPD and our team have been closely monitoring the situation. Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner [Rebecca] Weiner has been communicating with our partners across all of the agencies involved in the NYPD and partners have already enhanced security,” Adams said.
“We’ve already had enhanced security because of the holiday. And we don’t see any nexus between the incidents there. “.
He said attendees can expect to see uniformed officers throughout the parade route.
“We can tell you there are no credible or specific threats to New York City, or to tomorrow’s parade at this time. Our intelligence analysts and our counterterrorism offices have been preparing for this event,” he said.
See More of The Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Inflation Event NYC-2023 in our World Liberty TV, by Clicking here.
