The Charlie Brown balloon floats on 6th Avenue during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images
Macy’s said Wednesday that the public will again be able to line the streets of New York City to see their annual Thanksgiving Day Parade live.
This year’s event will mark the 95th edition of Macy’s iconic balloon parade. Live musical performances will also resume, including the marching bands originally expected for last year’s parade.
The event was drastically reduced last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It didn’t use its usual 2.5 mile parade route and instead just switched to a television broadcast.
“We are very excited to be able to welcome the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in full form again,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “We applaud Macy’s work in creatively continuing this beloved tradition over the past year.”
Macy’s said it adopted best practices from its recent July 4th fireworks show, which this year attracted a public audience after being reduced in 2020.
For its Thanksgiving Day Parade, Macy’s said that all volunteer participants and staff must be vaccinated against Covid. To implement social distancing along the parade route, Macy’s will reduce attendance by up to 20% to 1,600.
The department store chain also said it is still considering how to deal with the balloon inflation public viewing that takes place the night before the parade.
Macy’s added that it will continue to monitor evolving health trends and be ready to implement contingency plans if necessary.
The full Macy’s press release can be found here.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com. NBC has televised the event since 1953.
