Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade 2023

Live Stream and TV coverage. Parade lineup, route, start time and best viewing points

Benjamin Franklin Parkwaty, Philadelphia

IT's that time of year again, and Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day parade has the honour of being the oldest parade in the country. Having survived since 1920 and through various iterations and sponsorships, from the most well known and original Gimbels Thanksgiving Day parade, after the famous department store, to the current, and if we're honest, somewhat less catchy, 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Parade.

The parade is also shown live on TV and is now available as a live stream via 6abc - one of the advantages of a broadcast sponsor, and making th parade available to a much wider viewing audience.

In common with Thanksgiving parades across the US this event is characterised by colourful floats and balloons featuring favourite film and TV characters as well as seasonal specialities such as The Grinch and Frosty the Snowman. There are also special guest appearances by local celebrities that are often only announced at the last minute.

Date

Thanksgiving in 2023 is on Thursday 23rd November with a great list of floats, school choirs, bands, balloons and an appearance from Santa too!

This year's special guests include Carsin Kressley, Sam Champion, Kevin Negandhi and Joey Graziadei, with musical appearnaces from The Commodores, .The Village People, Tito Puente Jr and Colin Stough.

Start time

The parade steps off at 8.30am, starting with the 30 minute preview of the show and is usually completed by 12 noon.

Parade Route

The parade 1.4 mile has a very simple route:

- Start on 20th Street and JFK Boulevard
- 16th Street to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
- Down the Parkway until Logan Circle
- Around the south side of Logan Circle, then back on the Parkway to Eakins Oval
- South side of Eakins Oval
- Finish at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The best viewing spots are generally anywhere along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, while the largest crowds tend to gather at the Museum of Art and Logan Circle.

As always with these events, getting there early is genrally the most important factor in securing a good vantage point.

There is an excellent map of the full parade route and best viewing spots here:

Parade route map

TV & Live Streaming

Broadcast coverage is provided by parade co-sponsors 6abc, who also offer a free live stream via their website, meaning you can once again this year watch the whole parade live online here:

Thanksgiving parade live stream

You can also catch the action on Hulu, AppleTV and FireTV.

There is also the option of checking out some of the local webcam views for a more local flavour of the day's events, there are several located in key locations around Philadelphia, including some convenient traffic cam spots right on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway:

Philadelphia webcams

Hotels and Accommodation

Hotel accommodation is at a premium over Thanksgiving so getting your reservation made early is a good idea. Decent choices on or very close to the parade route itself include The Sheraton, The Windsor, Le Meridien and Embassy Suites.

You can search and check availability for local hotels here.

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