Next Thursday, November 28, is Thanksgiving Day in America. For thousands of bystanders and millions of television viewers, the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York is as traditional as turkey and stuffing. This year marks the 87th year of Macy’s parade. It will feature 15 giant helium balloons of cartoon and pop culture characters, 1,200 dancers and cheerleaders, 900 clowns, 10 marching bands and nearly 9,000 personnel, almost all of them volunteers. Some children were fortunate to get a sneak preview of some of 2013’s most dazzling floats, a full year in the making.
The 2013 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will feature five new floats, and four new balloons.
Cirque Du Soleil, Despicable Me, Royal Caribbean, Lindt Chocolate, and Sea World will all have floats that will join the parade. Each float has something special to offer. Cirque Du Soleil will feature live acrobats performing stunts on their float. Despicable Me’s float will be themed like a bakery. A school of fish will decorate Sea World’s float.
The other two floats will host some special guests. The Goo Goo Dolls will be performing on Lindt Chocolate’s Float, and Kristen Chenoweth will be performing on Royal Caribbean’s float.
The parade also announced four new balloons that are joining the lineup. Finn and Jake from the children’s cartoon Adventure Time will make their parade debut, along with a brand new Snoopy and Woodstock float, Toothless who is the main character of How to Train Your Dragon, and a new Christmas Spongebob Squarepants float.
You can click here to view pictures of all of the floats and balloons that will be appearing in the 2013 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and to see news and updates about the parade.