Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade adds two new balloons

The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade kicked off the holiday in New York City this morning, for its 85th year.

The parade, packed with cold spectators, enormous balloons, marching bands, Broadway show performances, and the infamous Rockettes, made its way from 77th Street and Central Park West by the Museum of Natural History to Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street in Herald Square.

This year’s newest balloons were Julius, Paul Frank’s jetpack-wearing monkey and a creation by filmmaker Tim Burton. These two newcomers joined the originals and balloons from recent years, including Snoopy, Spiderman and Sonic the Hedgehog. The parade features 40 balloon creations, 27 floats, 800 clowns and 1,600 cheerleaders, the Associated Press reported.

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Broadway show appearances included Spider-Man and Newsies at the stage set up in front of Macy’s, and other performances by pop stars such as Cee Lo Green and Avril Lavigne were either on their floats or in front of the Christmas-decked out superstore.

This year’s parade even included an elf balloon designed by a lucky New Yorker from Queens, Keith Lapinig, who won a nationwide contest. Lapinig’s design for Gazer, the Elf was inspired by the Macy’s emblem star, featured the New York City skyline on his feet, and a wishing star trail that wrapped around his blue-clothed balloon body.

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Balloons were secured by crews due to some strong wind gusts and light rain sprinkles, CNN reported.

The parade, broadcast around the country, started at 9:30 am in the Big Apple and was capped off a few hours later with an appearance by Santa Claus, joined by the Rockettes from the New York’s Christmas Spectacular.

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