Holiday Parades in Big U.S. Cities

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).

For details, visit www.Macys.com. A link with information about the parade will be posted in late October or early November.

Chicago's Big Parade

But New York isn't the only town to kick off Thanksgiving with a parade. Chicago's Target Thanksgiving Day Parade (www.chicagofestivals.org) was originally Fields Jingle Elf parade.

Target purchased the venerable Midwestern shopping institution Marshall Fields, and for the past five years has presented the parade as Fields Jingle Elf Parade by Target. This is the first year the parade is going under the Target name alone.

But the parade itself has not changed its ways. This year it will have more than 100 marching bands, gigantic helium balloons, floats, live performances from some of Chicago's top theatrical productions, and the stars of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

In New Orleans

New Orleans is a city that marks the start of the holidays with its own inimitable style. Christmas in the Big Easy (www.christmasneworleans.com) is a mix of European, African and Creole events, from Creole Reveillons to holiday bonfires on the levee.

There are more than 100 festivities throughout the month of December, with "Caroling in Jackson Square" by candlelight, motorcoach tours through holiday lighting displays, levee bonfires, caroling paddleboat cruises on the steamboat Natchez and holiday tours of antebellum homes.

This being New Orleans, gastronomy is a big part of the celebration: Every day from Dec. 21-23 and 26-29, chefs from Broussard's, Gabrielle Restaurant, Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse and other local culinary luminaries will offer free cooking demonstrations at 3 p.m. in Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré.

Restaurants serve the Reveillon, an adaptation of an old Creole dining custom. And it's not just about Christmas 2002. Celtic Christmas customs, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other ethnic celebrations make up the mix.

For more on holiday festivities at a city you'd love to visit, check out listings on local convention and visitor bureau sites — just type in the city's name with convention and visitors bureau on your favorite search engine.

Please note that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change.