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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2023

Live Stream from New York. TV Coverage, lineup, route, start time, best viewing spots

New York city skyline Thanksgiving

This is, without doubt, the biggest Thanksgiving parade in the world, and also the most spectacular of all of New York City's many annual parades, the Macy's Thanksgving Day parade this year celebrates 96 years and is an iconic and instantly recognisable spectacle all around the world.

The New York Thanksgiving parade will be available as a live stream again this year, bringing one of the biggest annual parades in NYC direct into the homes of millions of viewers - see below for how to watch live online and for free.

New York more than probably anywhere else in the world know how to make a big deal of a parade, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is a huge event even by NYC standards. With such a relatively compact large central area, where the urban sprawl is upwards rather than outwards the concentrated nature of New York City makes it that bit easier to fit in a large crowd, and an almost unbelievable 3 million people are expected to turn out to watch the parade this Thanksgiving.

Date

Thanksgiving in 2023 is on Thursday 23rd November.

Parade Lineup

There's always a good mix of old favourites and some new characters appearing at the Macy's parade. So expect to see soem of the following appearing at the parade:

Giant Balloons including: Grogu, Opening Mac's Star, Pikachu and Eevee, Paw Patrol, Beagle Scout Snoopy, Bluey, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Goku, Red Titan from Ryan's World, Ronald McDonald, Smokey Bear, Stuart the Minion, Spongebob Squarepants and Gary,

Floats include: Heartwarming Holiday Countdown, 1-2-3 Sesame Street, Geoffrey's Dazzling Dance Party, Big Turkey Spectacular, Big City Cheer!, People of First Light, Pinkfong Baby Shark, Fantasy Chocolate Factory, Magic Meets the Sea, Macy's Express Train, The Wondership, Macy's Singing Christmas Tree, Santa's Sleigh, The Brick-Changer, Tom Turkey

Marching Bands: Marching bands have yet to be announced.

Performers: Cher, Chicago, En Vogue, Paul Russell, Jessie James Decker, Manuel Turizo, Miss America Grace Stanke, Pentatonix, Alex Smith, Brandy, Jon Batiste, Jabari Banks, Enhypen, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, David Foster & Katherine McPhee, Bell Biv Devoe, Ashley Park, Amanda Shaw.

Full Line Up: New York Thanksgiving Parade 2023 Line Up

Route and Schedule

The parade starts at 9am and lasts around 3 hours in total - it follows the usual, straightforward route:

- Start at 77th Street and Central Park West

- Down Central Park West to Columbus Circle

- Along Central Park South to 6th Avenue

- Down 6th to 34th Street

- Along 34th to finish in front of Macy's Herald Square, usually by around midday

There's a great map on Macy's site: Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Route

Best Viewing Areas

If you want to get a decent view of the parade, then you'll need to get there very early. Generally speaking the areas along the earlier parts of the parade route tend to be a little less crowded. Some of the best (and therefore most popular!) viewing spots are:

- Along the west side of Central Park West from south of 70th Street down to Columbus Circle

- The eastern side of Central Park West between 65th and 70th

- Around Columbus Circle and along the northern edge of Central Park South

- Time Warner Center, from the 2nd and 3rd floors of The Shops at Columbus Circle mall

- From 58th Street down to 34th on 6th Avenue

- To see the finish, the south side of 34th Street, mainly between Broadway and 7th Avenue

Parade View Hotels

If you want to avoid the crowds down on the streets (and they will be hectic) then there are several hotels along the route with excellent views down over the parade area. If you want to stay at one of these though, be sure to specify when making your reservation that you would like a parade view room, and be prepared to be charged a premium for the privilege!

It goes without saying that the rooms with a view over the Thanksgiving parade will be the first to sell out, usually many months in advance, so you will need to be quick. The best parade views are available from:

- Trump International Hotel & Tower, One Central Park West

- Mandarin Oriental, Columbus Circle

- Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, Central Park South at 6th Avenue

- Hilton New York on Sixth Avenue

- Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Times Square, also on 6th

- Courtyard New York Manhattan/Herald Square, W35th Street

If you're intersted in staying in any of these hotels, you can search and check availability for all of the top New York Thanksgiving hotels here.

TV & Live Streaming

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is shown live on NBC across the nation, so if you can get to a TV you won't have any problems watching the parade - an estimated 50 million viewers tune in across the USA.

There is also a live online stream provided by NBC, but please be aware you will require an active subscription to be able to view this:

NBC live stream

You can also watch the parade on Peacock and Hulu.

Another option which is frequently underrated is to check out some of the many live webcam views from across the city. My personal favourite is the Earthcam positioned at Columbus Circle, which is actually a live streaming cam so you can watch the parade go by in real time:

Columbus Circle live camera

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