Holiday Parades in Big U.S. Cities

ByABC News
October 16, 2002, 1:12 PM

Oct. 18, 2002 -- Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, 78 years old this year, is probably the best example of the uniquely American way the United States kicks off the holiday season.

But it's just one of the myriad ways the nation's cities celebrate the holidays, inviting out-of-towners to join the festivities.

The Macy's parade, which attracts some 2 million to 2.5 million viewers on city streets, and 45 million to 65 million television viewers each year, began in 1924 when the department store's employees, many of them first-generation immigrants, wanted to celebrate the all-American holiday of Thanksgiving — and did so with a European festival.

Employees marched in a costume parade, dressed as clowns, cowboys and knights, along with floats and animals from the Central Park Zoo. That first year, a quarter of a million spectators watched. By the late 1920s, helium balloons were a part of the lineup, and when the parade began to be nationally broadcast in the 1950s, it became an integral part of Thanksgiving for families across the nation.

Marching Bands, Live Performances

This year, audiences will watch a dozen marching bands (the smallest has around 150 members, the biggest about 400), 14 giant helium balloons and another seven, smaller novelty balloons make their way down along Central Park West to the parade's end in front of Macy's itself.

There will be live performances from Broadway shows, celebrities and four new balloons this year: Kermit the Frog, Little Bill (from Nickelodeon), Mr. Monopoly and Charlie Brown.

There will be new floats this year, too, featuring Angelina Ballerina, a Build a Bear Workshop (in honor of this year, the 100th anniversary of the creation of the teddy bear), a Lego float, a Hershey candy float and a showboat, a replica of a river paddleboat. Balloon inflating and viewing on 77th Street and Central Park West by the Museum of Natural History will begin earlier than usual this year, running from 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27 (in the past it's been an evening event).