The 98th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade strolled down New York City this rainy holiday with great performances and exciting new balloons. Streamed on NBC’s Peacock, families were able to watch from home together on Thanksgiving morning.
The annual parade started off with special performances from Broadway musicals such as “The Outsiders” and “Death Becomes Her.” Since it was pouring rain, viewers were quick to post on social media videos of performers unfortunately slipping.
After the brilliant Broadway productions, “Community” star Alison Brie cut the ribbon to begin the rest of the parade as Tom Turkey arrived.
A few usual classics returned as always like the “Sesame Street” float and the McDonald’s car with their traditional Ronald McDonald float following behind them.
New balloons this year included Minnie Mouse to celebrate the 96th anniversary of her debut in “Steamboat Willie” and the return of the Spider-Man balloon after 10 years.
As for new floats, Dora The Explorer’s new show on Paramount+ “Dora’s Fantastic Rainforest” and Netflix’s “Wednesday” based floats took over the New York City streets.
Performers on the floats included Dan + Shay with “Officially Christmas” from their new Christmas album, Idina Menzel singing “Great Escape” from her new Broadway show “Redwood” and more.
Marching bands from all over the country played popular songs while the rain fell in front of Macy’s. The University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band, The Pride of West Virginia, Carolina Band and the Marching Scarlet Knights played songs such as Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!”
The iconic parade came to an end with Jennifer Hudson bringing out Santa Claus this year by singing “Jingle Bells” and “Let There Be Joy.” FX’s “The Bear” star Liza Colόn-Zayas starred on the float as Mrs. Claus.
The parade came to a brief pause earlier that morning when Pro-Palestine protesters jumped into the parade route right in front of the McDonald’s car. The NYPD had arrested 25 protestors. This happened before the McDonald’s car reached Macy’s.
This year also had a few technical difficulties within the live production of the parade. When Lea Salonga was performing on the Sesame Street float, NBC accidentally placed her name on the screen at the moment when young “Sesame Street” star Olivia Perez was shown. An audio glitch happened moments later when War and Treaty was supposed to perform. The camera’s showed them on the float with no audio playing, which led to a confused Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie while NBC quickly cut to commercial.
Viewers have also been complaining about the clear lip-syncing, which tends to happen every year. One user on X, @ToeKneeEyeAm, posted “Watching the Macy’s parade. It’s like all the dancers and bands learned a piece of music, practiced a performance and now they’re surmounting the crappy weather with their effort. Then a celeb rolls out and lip syncs. They should cut all phonies and highlight more talent!”
Another user @tgain83 has made a good point, “…yes, everyone is lip syncing at the #MacysParade you did not “catch” anyone, no need to call anyone out. It’s a mobile event that’s not conducive to live television. We don’t have to do this every year.”
Although the weather was a little down and technical issues took place, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is always something to enjoy with friends and family. This year did not disappoint viewers.
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @Macys, Instagram
