Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade celebrates 90 events with heightened security
Officers carrying assault rifles and walking bomb-sniffing dogs lined the route at this year's Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday in New York City.
The parade stepped off at around 9 a.m. after a performance from The Muppets.
Officials parked more than 80 sand-filled sanitation trucks at intersections and other spots along the route to serve as barriers against any kind of possible attack. New York Police Department helicopters flew overhead.
This year’s three-hour event marked 90 parades, but not in a row. The Macy’s parade started in 1924 but was put on hold during World War II, when commodities like helium and rubber were in short supply.
Sixteen character balloons, 27 novelty/ornament balloons, 26 floats, 1,100 cheerleaders and dancers, more than 1,000 clowns and 16 marching bands and performance groups made their way down the 2.5-mile parade route.
Behind the scenes in VR at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thursday's event featured four new floats: The Aloha Spirit by King’s Hawaiian featuring a functioning waterfall; the Deck the Halls float by Balsam Hill with a fully operating merry-go-round; The Girl Scouts of the USA’s Building a Better World float; and, the Fun House by Krazy Glue.
Felix the Cat, the parade’s first-ever balloon, returned this year, carried on sticks sans helium, just like during his first parade run in 1927.
Snoopy’s Doghouse float replaced the traditional Snoopy balloon this year. Charlie Brown represented the Peanuts gang from up above as a balloon. Snoopy was one of the longest-running balloons in the parade.
Thursday's performers included Tony Bennett, Aloe Blacc, LunchMoney Lewis, Regina Spektor, Daya, Easton Corbin and more.
The parade ended at around noon with Santa ushering in the new holiday season at Macy's flagship store on 34th Street.
Here’s what people at the parade shared on social media:
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Sophia F. Gottfried of theThe (Bergen County, N.J.) Record and The Associated Press contributed to this report.