How to watch the 2023 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

5 months ago 152

Thanksgiving is a holiday for food, family and a monstrously sized Snoopy balloon parading its way towards Macy’s Herald Square. That’s right, it’s almost time for the 97th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! This year, the Macy’s Parade will kick off a half-hour earlier to fit more festive floats, awe-inspiring balloons and magical performances into the lineup. Thursday’s parade will feature 31 floats, 25 balloons and performances by Cher, Jon Batiste and the Broadway casts of & Juliet, Back to the Future: The Musical, How to Dance in Ohio, Shucked and more. So before you sit down for your Turkey Day dinner with the family and get ready to do some Black Friday shopping, make sure you check out the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the parade this year.

When is the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

As the name suggests, the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be held, well, on Thanksgiving day. The parade will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 23.

What channel is the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on?

This year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will air on NBC and stream on Peacock on Thanksgiving Day from 8:30 a.m. to noon in all time zones. An encore airing of the parade will also begin at 2 p.m. on NBC. If you have access to live TV, you may have NBC free over the air. If not, here’s what we recommend for how to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Channel Master Flatenna Ultra-Thin Indoor TV Antenna

Watch local channels like NBC, Fox and CBS

(Peacock)

For $6 per month, an ad-supported Peacock subscription lets you stream live sports and events airing on NBC, including Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the 2023 NFL season on NBC (including the Thanksgiving Day games). Plus, you'll get access to thousands of hours of shows and movies, including beloved sitcoms such as Parks and Recreation and The Office, every Bravo show and Hallmark holiday movie, and even recent theatrical releases like Five Nights at Freddy's and the Super Mario movie. For $12 monthly you can upgrade to an ad-free subscription which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.

$5.99/month at Peacock

Who is performing at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Cher will perform at this year’s Thanksgiving parade to celebrate the release of her new Christmas album. The performance slate also includes Jon Batiste, Bell Biv DeVoe; Brandy; Chicago; En Vogue; ENHYPEN; David Foster and Katharine McPhee; Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors; Jessie James Decker; Ashley Park with the cast and Muppets of Sesame Street; Pentatonix; Paul Russell; Amanda Shaw and Alex Smith; and Manuel Turizo.

The parade will also feature performances from this year’s Broadway hits, including & Juliet, Back to the Future: The Musical, How to Dance in Ohio, Shucked, Spamalot and the Radio City Rockettes. Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, the stars of Broadway’s new show Gutenberg! The Musical! will serve as special live correspondents throughout the parade.

What floats are in the Macy’s parade this Thanksgiving?

There will be 31 floats in this year’s Macy’s parade, four of which are brand new floats making their debut this Thanksgiving, like the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem float by Nickelodeon and Paramount. The float lineup includes Tom Turkey, Santa's Sleigh, Winter Dragon, Pinkfong Baby Shark and 123 Sesame Street.

2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloons

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon floats along Central Park West in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 25, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon will appear again in the 2023 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images) (Gary Hershorn via Getty Images)

In 2023, there will be seven new balloons making their debut in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade:

Beagle Scout Snoopy

Blue Cat and Chugs

Kung Fu Panda’s Po

Netflix's Leo

Monkey D. Luffy

The Pillsbury Doughboy

Uncle Dan

Returning to the parade this year are Bluey and her favorite “Keepy Uppy” red balloon; Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Dino and Baby Dino; Goku; a Funko Pop!-inspired Grogu; Chase from PAW Patrol; Pokémon Pikachu and Eevee; Red Titan from Ryan’s World; Ronald McDonald, SpongeBob SquarePants and Gary; and Stuart the Minion.

Who is hosting this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker of The Today Show will host NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade this year.

Peacock

Stream the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

More ways to watch the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade:

Want to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thanksgiving football and more on live TV this holiday season? Here's what we recommend for ways to watch live TV.

(Fubo)

Fubo TV gives you access to NBC, ESPN, Fox, CBS, ABC and NFL Network, basically almost every channel you need to watch the Macy's Parade and all the Thanksgiving football games. You'll also get access to ACCN, SECN, Pac-12 and Big Ten Network for catching NCAA college football games, plus 100+ more live channels. Fubo subscribers also get 1000 hours of cloud DVR storage. The platform offers a free trial period, and right now for Black Friday, new subscribers can save $40 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite, and Premier plans. ($20 off the first and second months).