Macy's Giant Balloon Inflation is a event held on Thanksgiving Eve where inflation crews inflate the giant balloons, novelty balloons and balloonicles.
History
In the early 1920's, the balloons were normally inflated in the wee hours on Thanksgiving morning in Harlem. When the parade route was shortened in 1945, the balloon inflation was moved to the Upper West Side. In 1996, the late Jean McFadden decided to make the balloon inflation an annual event open to the public, so that fans of the parade could see the behind the scenes of the parade. Nowadays, it is held at 77th Street and 81st Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. It was originally started at 3pm and ran until 10pm. In 2017, however, they moved the hours ahead 2 hours, having it now start at 1pm and running until 8pm.