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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Wiki
97 PARADES AND COUNTING!
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in: Lineups, 2010s Parades, 2019 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,
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The 93rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2019)

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The 93rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 28, 2019, in New York City, and shown to viewers live on NBC that same day from 9 a.m. to noon EST. It was hosted by Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker. The lineup featured 16 giant character balloons, 26 floats, 40 novelty and heritage inflatables, more than 1,000 clowns, 11 marching bands, 1,200 cheerleaders and dancers, a host of musical stars, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.

Overview

Blustery winds and partly-cloudy skies served as the backdrop for a spectacle like no other, as Macy's 93rd annual march through the streets of Manhattan stepped off with the call of "Let's Have A Parade!" The legendary lineup featured its signature giant character balloons, floats of fantasy, the nation’s finest marching bands, whimsical groups, musical performances, and the one-and-only Santa Claus

Joining the cast of inflatable icons were three newcomers; Astronaut Snoopy, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing; Green Eggs and Ham, featuring Sam-I-Am and Guy-Am-I riding in a ham-mobile; and SpongeBob SquarePants & Gary, promoting a tidal wave of SpongeBob media. Also returning to the line-up was an all-new Smokey Bear balloon, who celebrated his 75th anniversary.

K-pop superstars NCT 127 rode on a float provided by The LEGO Group, and the classic rockers Chicago celebrated the spirit of the season on Hallmark Channel's float. R&B artist Kelly Rowland appeared on a float by New York Life and musical group Black Eyed Peas rode on a float sponsoring the NHL Thanksgiving showdown.

Capping of the lineup was the superstar of the super Parade was Santa Claus himself, taking off of his famous North Pole workshop.

Parade Lineup

Listed below are the parade elements that appeared in the 2019 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They are categorized by unit type, with their respective sponsors in bold. Home locations of talent ensembles are featured in brackets, and guest star’s float appearances are indicated in bold.

Bold denotes a new parade element, an underline indicates a unit that was brought back after an absence, a strikethrough signifies a parade unit that was sidelined before or during the march, and an asterisk (*) indicates an element that was retired after the 2019 Parade.

Balloons

Giant Balloons

Novelty Balloons

Balloonheads

Balloonicles

Trycaloons 

Floats

Specialty Units

Toy Floats

Marching Bands

Guest Stars

Special Characters

Performance Groups

Pre-Parade Acts

Clowns

Stilt Walkers

Clown Vehicles

Trivia

  • Winds forecasted for Parade Day 2019 threatened to ground the 16 giant helium balloons. The gusts subsided, however, allowing the balloons to fly at a maximum height of ten feet. This was the third time in the 2010s that gusting winds posed a threat, as forecasts also predicted strong winds for both the 2013 Parade and the 2018 Parade.
  • The 2019 Parade featured the most balloon removals in a single parade since 1998. Balloon units that were damaged and eventually grounded included the Pilgrim Man and Woman Balloonheads, a Bowling Pin balloonicle, Ronald McDonald, Blue & White Macy's Star #1, Love Flies Up to the Sky, and one of the Gold Macy's Starflakes.
  • The removal of the Ronald McDonald balloon was the first time that a giant balloon was sidelined during its march since 2005, when an incident caused the Red & Yellow Brighten the Holidays balloon to be deflated early.
  • The Snail Float was part of the initial lineup for the 2019 Parade, but it was removed in the final stages of planning.
  • The 2019 Macy's Parade Verizon 360 livestream was the final to use a 360-degree view of the procession; the following year, the livestream featured combined, one-camera footage of the reimagined event before being retired entirely in 2021.
  • Celebrities featured in the "Thanksgiving Messages" segments on the NBC telecast included Justin Hartley (This Is Us), Amy Poehler (Making It), Blake Shelton (The Voice), Mae Whitman (Good Girls), John Legend (The Voice), Heidi Klum (America's Got Talent), Adam Pally (Indebted), Matthew Lillard (Good Girls), Retta (Good Girls), Kelly Clarkson (The Voice), Chris Sullivan (This Is Us), Nick Jonas (The Voice), Chrissy Metz (This Is Us), Terry Crews (America's Got Talent), Nick Offerman (Making It), Howie Mandel (The Voice), Allyson Felix (Six-time Olympic Gold Medalist), Simone Biles (Four-time Olympic Gold Medalist), Noah Lyles (World Champion Sprinter), Christian Coleman (World Champion Sprinter), Tatyana McFadden (17-Time Paralympic Medalist), and David Boudia (Four-time Olympic Medalist).
  • NBC's broadcast of the event amassed a total of 22.1 million viewers, down a total of 7% from the previous year. The program also scored a 5.5 rating among adults aged 18-49, the highest rating for any program since the 2019 Oscars.[4]
  • The 2019 Parade broadcast on NBC was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Special Class Special, Outstanding Directing Special Class, and Outstanding Original Song ("A Holiday Carol - The Holidays Are Here" and "Hooray, Hooray, We're On Our Way").
    • The Verzion 360 livestream also received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Interactive Media for Daytime Program.

Incidents and Defects

Incidents

  • Strong wind gusts pushed Jett to the left when turning a corner, causing a balloon handler to lose grip of his handling bone and fall onto the pavement. He suffered an elbow and a knee injury.
  • Goku was caught in a gust of wind, causing a female balloon handler to injure her shoulder.
  • Before the parade started, Ronald McDonald's right shoe developed a tear. The balloon struggled to complete the rest the route as the tear was getting larger, before eventually being removed at 42nd Street, only ten blocks before its NBC appearance. After the incident, pre-recorded footage of Ronald from the 2018 Parade was used.
  • A large gust of wind sent the front part of Wiggle Worm into the air, causing his handlers to loose grip of their handling bones. The handlers were able to regain control of the balloon shortly after, and the Wiggle Worm balloon was lowered to the ground as a result.
  • The overnight wind gusts caused Yayoi Kusama's "Love Flies Up to the Sky" to be shoved into a portable restroom trailer and a few ATM machines, causing its face to get punctured. Additionally, one of its tentacles was ripped open by a subway map kiosk.
  • One of the Blue & White Macy's Stars escaped from the staging area and was torn apart after hitting a generator.
  • One of the Gold Macy's Starflakes also escaped from the staging area, flying across the street until finally bursting after making contact with a building.
  • The Nutcracker was whipped about along Central Park West. The balloon eventually lurched forward, knocking a female handler down, who approached the balloon in an attempt to stabilize it. The handler was able to get back up with no known injuries, and the Nutcracker balloon wasn't damaged.

Defects

NBC Credits

  • Executive Producer: Brad Lachman
  • Co-Executive Producer: Bill Bracken
  • Directed by: Ron de Moraes
  • Written by: Mark Waxman and Brad Lachman
  • Music Director: Ray Chew
  • Coordinating Producer: Carmela Tripodi
  • Talent Producers: JB Talent
  • Production Supervisor: Nicole Gauthier
  • Art Director: Ed Helbig
  • Script Supervisor: Tori Rose and Brittany Thompson
  • Line Producer: Adam Wald
  • Production Managers: Cate Cetta, Dylan Van Arsdale, and Madison Marolda
  • Senior Technical Manager: Mike Matthews
  • Technical Manager: Joe Caffrey
  • Music Manager: Jaynell Grayson
  • Music Production: Al Theurer
  • Segment Producer: Casey B. Davis
  • Assistant to the Executive Producer: Nicole Brooks
  • Segment Directors: Alex Vietmeier and Brad Lachman
  • Choreographers: Napoleon D'umo and Tabitha D'umo
  • Assistant Choreographers: Katy Tate
  • Associate Directors: Jim Tanker, Bill Bracken, Shannon Demers, Judy Farinet, Joyce Hurley, Mary Muzina, and Craig Ziogas
  • Stage Managers: Smith Sumroy, Dave Auerback, Chris Kelly, Jeff Leib, and Vinny Sinopoli
  • Production Coordinator: Matthew Fodera
  • Music Coordinator: Scott Siegel
  • Production Assistants: Chloe Vansky, Kyle Civale, Kaitlyn Coneys, Chet Craft, JT Esterkamp, Dominick Famularo, Andrea Giuffrida, Gema Interiano, Denise McGillicuddy, David Mulvihill, Dabney Rauh, Rei Scurti, Rylan Swartz, Catherine Tauriello, and Robbie Venezia
  • Technical Director: Brad Gersten
  • Lighting Director: Geoff Amoral
  • Announcer: Les Marshak
  • Backtimer: Molly Gray
  • Post Production Supervisor: David Emanuele
  • Editor: Colin Dow
  • Senior Audio: Jorge Silva and Chris Acker
  • Audio: Greg Acker, John Ariz, Jay Carrie, Nils de Korte, Kim Dougherty, Frank Duca, John Peter Erskine, Will Finan, Josh Flower, Ricardo Gomez, Jack Goodwin, Douglas Hamilton, Victor Miranda, Kevin Parrish, Christian Schrader, Bob Selitto, Joe Shalhoup, Al Theurer, Jim Tomlinson, Jim Van Bergen, and Shawn Walsh
  • Graphic Design: Chris Callahan
  • Video Playback: Robert Toscano
  • Video Record: Allan Buchner
  • XPression: Layne Dornstein
  • Video: Chris Halloran, Oliver Bosill, Taylor Dees, and Stevie Sirvanta
  • Special Thanks: Mayor's Office of City Wide Events, NYCDOT, NYPD, Macy's Parade Families & Dedicated Volunters, and American Museum of Natural History
  • Promotional Consideration Provided by: Verizon

For Macy's

  • Executive Producer: Susan Tercero
  • Creative Producer: Wesley Whatley
  • Parade Producer: Jordan Dabby
  • Supervising Producer: Aphrodite Spirocostas
  • Line Producer: Chris Bannon
  • Creative Producer: Rick Pomer
  • Parade Studio Director: John Piper
  • Publicity: Julie Strider, Orlando Veras, and Christine Olver Nealon
  • Associate Producers: Carolyn Dellisanti, Sara Flores, Carolynn Kolinsky, and Ashley Hughes
  • Costume Director: Kimberly Montgomery
  • Parade Studio Directors: Jerry Ospa, Lenny Drenski, and Emanuel Moshoruis
  • Administration: Camile Davis
  • Production Managers: Krystin Arrabito, Katherine Christakos, Gregory Dibisceglie, Jenna Geniale, Brett Gearity, Tanner Glaves, Elizabeth Gonzales, Eric Hudspeth, Matt Kaprielian, Paul Lopacinski, Madeline Magardician, Sara Mullin, Evelyn Tam, and Kathleen Wright
  • Parade Studio: Joseph Ammons, Gerard Angelella, Christian Bracco, Cameron Carnivale, John Cheney, Nerissa Diaz, Geoffrey Donnelly, Brian Drew, Laura Duphiney, Alan Gallagher, Jesse Haack, Chris Meli, Joel Naprstek, Tina Pfefferkorn, Mariel Ramsberger, Dennis Salerno, Thomas Schnackenberg, Loryn Sotsky, Cory Stallworth, Greg Thompson, Sean Tulner, and Cory Watson
  • Production Coordinators: Justin Gaither, Charles Hoppe, Samantha Ketelsen, Erica Liu, Lauren Marchisotto, Rebecca Mensch, Darlene Peaco, and Erin Stief

For Sesame Workshop

  • Music Director: Bill Sherman
  • Composer: Dominic Fallacaro
  • Writer and Lyricist: Andrew Moriarty
  • Vocal Music Director: Paul Rudolph
  • Producer: Mindy Fila

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Returning elements included the Cornucopia (last seen in 2013), Star Sound Unit #2 (last seen in 2017), Rocking Tortoise (last seen in 2016), Wiggle Worm (last seen in 2016), Rocking Flamingo (last seen in 2015), Rocking Lion (last seen in 2012), Central Park (last seen in 2016), and the Candy Cane (last seen in 2017).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The 1-2-3 Sesame Street float was not a part of the actual Parade, and was instead escorted down the Parade route to 34th Street around 6:30am, in preparation for the Parade's opening number.
  3. ↑ British recording artist Natasha Bedingfield was the original performer on the Kinder float. Bedingfield would forego attending the Parade due to complications involving her newborn child.
  4. ↑ Thorne, Will. "TV Ratings: Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Deflates on NBC, NFL Scores for CBS" Variety. November 29, 2019.
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