The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a television experience shared by millions of Americans every Thanksgiving morning, is a necessity in the holiday tradition playbook. As the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade hums on the TV in the background of your morning, you might not think about the frozen fingertips among the crowd, but standing in the streets of New York City, I sure was.
For the past two years, I have been lucky enough to attend the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which immersed me in an amazing cultural experience each time. Families and friends travel from around the world to see these larger than life inflatables with their own eyes.
The crowd is full of people from different backgrounds, their languages melting together to create a beautiful harmony of unity. As you stand in the crowd you pick up on things you normally would not while watching the parade on TV. One thing I now can say for certain: watching the parade at home does this event little justice.
In the morning, walking through the crisp fall air, I take a deep breath as I turn the block to see thousands of people pushed up against the barricades. Street blocks are packed with people who are trying to get a glimpse of their favorite Hallmark singer or to share a wave with Elmo.
The parade starts with all of the crowd’s favorite characters. The balloons are inflated over on the upper west side, where a lot of the viewers trudge up to the night before to watch these fan favorites gain life before their own eyes. Snoopy, Spiderman, Snowmen, oh my! This is not the first year most of these inflatables have been in use either, some have been around since the late 1960s and early 1970s, which is so special to see, especially in an ever-changing world of tacky trends.
Each year, Macy’s does a fantastic job with balancing the beloved balloons with new additions for the younger generations. This year, I saw “Gabby’s Dollhouse” and “Labubus,” which, by the screams of children in the crowd, I can tell are very popular.
Sprinkled throughout the balloons are floats sponsored by businesses, from car dealers to Haribo candies. The floats are definitely the most exciting part of the parade in my opinion. The balloons are fun to see, but just staring as these plastic characters as they slowly float by is a lot less appealing in person when you don’t have the mercy of intercuts between different floats, performances, celebrity appearances and commercial breaks.
The floats appear like a breath of fresh air, with fun personalities and blasting music, except for the handful of celebrities that stand shivering on the float, scrolling on their iPhones while the cameras aren’t on them. I can say with confidence that the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my opinion on many “cool” Disney stars, because not waving back to a crowd of your biggest fans really can ruin your reputation in a child’s eyes.
Now, the main attraction in my opinion, is seeing the man himself: Santa Claus. You can feel as the energy of the crowd begins to shift and whispers of ‘I think I see him’ fill the air. The one thing that can bring people of all backgrounds together is the everlasting magic of Santa Claus.
Once the big man floats by and laughs a “ho ho ho,” the chaos of New York returns as locals stream back to their rushed lives and tourists find their next attraction, but for a few moments, there was peace within the city as Tom the Turkey passed the holiday torch to Santa Claus.
