The Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade is
well known for its pageantry, bands and
famous balloons. But did you know that
you can get the best view of those
balloons before the parade actually
starts?
On the night before
Thanksgiving, both 77th Street and 81st
Street between Central Park West and
Columbus are closed so that parade
volunteers can lay out the huge balloons
and begin to fill them with helium. We
love to watch this work in progress --
not only do you get a closer look at each
balloon than you are likely to at the
parade the following day, but you have
the pleasure of seeing them take shape in
front of you. We enjoy trying to figure
out which character we are looking at
before it is full of air: old favorites
like Snoopy and Garfield are usually
easy, but others like the Sonic Hedgehog
can give us a real hard time.
When to Go
The general rule is the
later the better. Although the balloon
inflation officially starts at 3 pm, if
you go too early, there won't be enough
balloons in recognizable form to make the
trip worthwhile. We recommend that you
wait until about 7 or 8 pm -- you'll
still have plenty of time to see
everything before the streets are closed
off to the public at 10 pm.
Bonus: Celebrity
Spotting
Going to see the balloons as
they are blown up has become an annual
tradition for many New Yorkers. Look for
famous faces as you walk through the
crowds. At the very least, you are
guaranteed to see TV reporters
(especially the meteorologists) from the
major networks preparing their stories
for the 11 o'clock news.
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