Every year in the months leading up to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, several test flights are held for the Parade's newcomers. These are commonly held in late October at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, South Dakota, and at Macy's BalloonFest, which is held on the first Saturday of November.
Below is a gallery of the balloon's test flights that have been held throughout the year.
Gallery
Happy Dragon (V1) (1960)
Donald Duck (2nd Version) (1962)
Linus the Lionhearted (1964)
Underdog (1965)
M&M's Red and Yellow Brighten the Holidays (2004)
Thomas the Tank Engine (2014)
Rugrats (1997)
Papa Smurf (2012)
Elf on the Shelf (2012)
Superman (2nd Version) (1966)
Raggedy Ann (1984)
Olive Oyl (1st Version) (1982)
Barney the Dinosaur (1994)
SpongeBob SquarePants (1st Version) (2004)
Astronaut Snoopy (8th Version) (2019)
Green Eggs and Ham (2019)
Bumpé (1997)
Abby Cadabby (2007)
Buzz Lightyear (2008)
Jojo's Circus (2005)
Bandleader Mickey (3rd Version) (2000)
Weeble (1975)
Mickey Mouse (2nd Version) (1971)
SpongeBob SquarePants and Gary (3rd Version) (2019)
Sonic the Hedgehog (2nd Version) (2011)
Bullwinkle J. Moose (1st Version) (1961)
Olive Oyl (2nd Version) (1986)
Observer (1956)
Dino the Dinosaur (1st Version) (1963)
Smokey Bear (1st Version) (1966)
Scooby-Doo (2005)
Goku (2018)
Kool-Aid Man (2010)
Bugs Bunny (1989)
Popeye (1957)
Pikachu With Pokéball (2006)
80th Anniversary Hot Air Balloon (2006)
Super Grover (2003)
Garfield & Pooky (2003)
The Aflac Duck (2011)
Yayoi Kusama's Love Files Up To The Sky (2019)
Babar (1991)
Rex The Dinosaur (1993)
Wild Thing (1998)
Dudley The Dragon (1995)
Aviator Snoopy (1968)
Snoopy On Skates (1987)
Millennium Snoopy (1999)
Snoopy & Woodstock (2013)
Angry Birds' Red (2015)
Ronald McDonald With Balloons (1987)
Dino the Dinosaur (2nd Version) (2015)
Bart Simpson (1990)
Dino the Dinosaur (1st Version) (1963)
Sonic the Hedgehog (1st Version) (1993)
Santa Goofy (1992)
Supercute Hello Kitty (1st Version) (2007)
Julius the Sock Monkey (2011)
Arthur and Petula Pig (1997)
Sailor Mickey (4th Version) (2009)
Hamlet the Balloon School Pig (2003)
Snuggle Bear (1987)
Peter Rabbit, Flying Fish and SkyDancer (1996)
Baby Shamu (1986)
The Pink Panther (1988)
Tibby, Tooey & Bumpus (2004)
Kermit The Frog (1977)
Smurf & Buzz Lightyear (2008)
Elsie (1963)
Greg Heffley (2010)
Greg (V2) (2016)
Mickey Mouse (1934)
Po (2010)
Dexter (1998)
Clifford The Big Red Dog
Dora The Explorer (2005)
Dragon Tales' Cassie (2000)
Sunny The Snowpal (2018)
Little Cloud (2018)
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
Super Wings' Jett (2017)
Olaf (2017)
Trolls (2016)
Skylanders' Eruptor (2014)
Felix The Cat (2nd Version) (2016)
Rocky & Bullwinkle (1996)
Eben Bear (1995)
KAWS (2012)
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Harold The Baseball Player (2017)
Baby Dinos (2018)
Adventure Time with Finn & Jake (2013)
Horton The Elephant (2008)
Yogi Bear (1983)
Millennium Snoopy & Buzz The Honey Nut Cheerios Bee (1999)
Big Bird (2nd Version) (2001)
Betty Boop (1985)
Barney & Cloe The Holiday Clown (2000)
"Strike Up The Band" Barney (2003)