The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, by the numbers
Every year the team behind the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade embarks on a mission that they take very, very seriously—to best what they did the year before by making the parade bigger, brighter and more engaging for the crowds that throng the As Susan Tercero, Group Vice-President for Macy’s Parade & Entertainment Group puts it, “We can’t do anything without confetti and glitter.” A lot of glitter. Here’s a peek at the parade, by the numbers. floats giant balloons clowns of parade route from 77th and Central Park West to Macy’s Herald Square Flagship
height of Olaf, from “Frozen,” the parade’s tallest balloon
length of Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, the parade’s longest balloon
width of Jett from Super Wings™, the parade’s widest balloon
of tubular steel, the framework for the Singing Christmas Tree, the most steel ever sourced for a Macy’s Parade float gallons of paint pounds of glitter streets of New York City and for everyone watching at home. From designing bold new balloons, to seeking out the best high school and college marching bands in the country to perform in the parade, there’s no detail too small
to consider. Harold the Baseball Player. Harold has been rendered in black, white and gray to recreate a small piece of the black and white film in the midst of the riotously colorful parade, a process that Piper said was more challenging than it sounds to get just right. “It sounds deceptively simple, but it’s very complicated,” he explains. “I did as down small enough to fit through the Lincoln Tunnel. There are several new and exciting additions to the line-up, including the Nickelodeon Shimmer and Shine float which Piper says will give Olaf a run for his money in terms of the amount of glitter it boasts. The centerpiece of the floats this year though, and a parade element that the entire Macy’s team is thrilled to share, is the Singing Christmas Tree on the Delta Air Lines float. The tree will rise into the air, adorned with an entire choir of human ornaments, all singing an original song called “Together We Make Christmas,” composed by Emmy Award winner, Wesley Whatley. The choir is made up entirely of Macy’s employees from around the country, who auditioned by sending in a video of themselves singing a Christmas classic. This spirit of inclusion, from the employees who volunteer to be balloon handlers and clowns, to the new choir, to the high school marching bands who spend years preparing to march, they all represent what makes the parade such a truly meaningful event each year. “This is going to be our very, very special present to everyone who sees the parade,” says PIper. “It’s a landmark piece and the idea that ‘Together We Make Christmas’—that’s what we’re all about.”