The 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will kick off at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Thursday in Manhattan, launching a three-and-a-half-hour procession of balloons, floats, and marching bands that will be broadcast to millions of viewers across the United States.
The 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marks the 99th annual edition of the event. The parade first stepped off in 1924, and organizers count 2025 as the 99th parade because it was not held for three years during World War II.
What time does the Thanksgiving Day parade start?
The parade is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to noon Eastern, with coverage airing live on NBC and streaming on Peacock. NBC plans an encore presentation beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern and Pacific for viewers who miss the morning broadcast or want to watch the event again later in the day.
For viewers at home, the live NBC broadcast and Peacock stream will feature musical performances, Broadway casts, and appearances by Santa Claus to close the show. Network hosts will provide commentary from a street-level position near Herald Square while cameras follow the floats, bands, and balloons along the length of the route.
How long is the Thanksgiving Day parade?
The 2.5-mile route begins on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, near West 77th Street and Central Park West, and makes its way south along Central Park West before turning east at Central Park South and then south again on Sixth Avenue to 34th Street. The parade ends in front of Macy’s Herald Square, where many of the televised performances and grandstand shots are staged for the national audience.
New York City officials say spectators typically start lining the route before sunrise, especially along Central Park West, where crowd control barricades are in place and many of the large character balloons first come into full view. City agencies warn that some streets near the route will be closed to traffic for several hours on Thursday morning and advise drivers to avoid midtown and the Upper West Side during the event.
