The 94th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade aired on NBC on November 26th, 2020 at 9 a.m. It was hosted by Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker. Participating celebrities included Dolly Parton, Darlene Love, Patti LaBelle, Pentatonix, Bebe Rexha and Brett Young.
Contents
Parade Lineup
Listed below are the Parade units that appeared in the 2020 line of march. Each unit is listed in several categories and sub-categories, in addition to the unit's sponsor.
Bold indicates a new Parade unit, and * indicates a unit retired after the 2020 procession.
Balloons
Giant Balloons
- Red Titan from Ryan's World (Sunlight Entertainment and Pocket.Watch) - 1st time
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Abrams Children's Books) - 5th time
- Chase from PAW Patrol (Spin Master and Nickelodeon) - 4th time
- SpongeBob SquarePants & Gary (Nickelodeon) - 2nd time
- Trolls (DreamWorks Animation) - 5th time
- Ronald McDonald (McDonald's) - 6th time
- Pikachu (The Pokémon Company International) - 7th time
- Astronaut Snoopy (Peanuts Worldwide) - 2nd time
- The Boss Baby (DreamWorks Animation and Universal Studios) - 1st time
- Sinclair's DINO (Sinclair Oil Corporation) - 6th time
- Pillsbury Doughboy (Pillsbury) - 7th time
- The Elf on the Shelf (The Lumistella Company) - 9th time
Heritage Balloons
- Love Flies Up to the Sky* (Yayoi Kusama) - 2nd time
- Smokey Bear (United States Department of Agriculture - Forest Service) - 2nd time
- The Nutcracker (Universal Orlando Resort) - 3rd time
- Fleck, Bjorn Jojo and Hugg (Netflix) - 2nd time
Novelty Balloons
- Opening Macy's Stars (Macy's) - 3rd time
- Red "Believe" Stars (Macy's) - 5th time
Balloonicles
- Go Bowling (GoBowling.com) - 3rd time
- Baby DINOs (Sinclair Oil Corporation) - 3rd time
Floats
- Tom Turkey (Macy's) - 3rd time
- Big Turkey Spectacular (Jennie-O) - 1st time
- Blue's Clues & You! (Nickelodeon) - 2nd time
- Splashing Safari Adventure (Kalahari Resorts & Conventions) - 3rd time
- Everyone's Favorite Bake Shop (Entenmann's) - 4th time
- Cruising Cupcakes (Macy's) - 1st time
- Tom & Jerry's Tourist Trap (Warner Bros. Pictures) - 1st time
- Rexy in the City (Coach) - 2nd time
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon) - 3rd time
- Her Future is STEM-sational (Olay) - 1st time
- Toy House of Marvelous Milestones (New York Life) - 2nd time
- Harvest in the Valley (Green Giant) - 4th time
- Mount Rushmore's American Pride (South Dakota Office of Tourism) - 11th time
- The Brick-Changer (The LEGO Group) - 2nd time
- Christmas in Town Square (Lifetime) - 1st time
- Central Park (Delta Air Lines) - 11th time
- Heartwarming Holiday Countdown (Hallmark Channel) - 6th time
- Santa's Sleigh (Macy's) - 12th time
Specialty Units
- NYPD Highway Patrol Motorcycle Unit - 36th time
- ”Give. Love. Believe.” Banner (Macy’s) - 1st time
- Big Red Shoe Car (McDonald's) - 21st time
- Staged Characters from Universal's Holiday Parade Featuring Macy's (Universal Orlando Resort) - 4th time
Toy Floats
- Rocking Giraffe (Macy's) - 10th time
- Rocking Flamingo (Macy's) - 4th time
- Rocking Lobster (Macy's) - 41st time
- Rocking Moose (Macy's) - 5th time
- Rocking Horse (Macy's) - 61st time
Marching Bands
- West Point Marching Band; performed "The Hellcats", "This is My Country", and "The Army Goes Rolling Along"
- NYPD Marching Band; performed "God Bless America"
- The FDNY Emerald Society Pipes & Drums; performed "America the Beautiful"
- Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Marching Band; performed "Dancing Queen"
Guest Stars
- Jimmy Fallon and The Roots; performed "Dancing in the Streets"
- America's Frontline Heros (Tom Turkey)
- Bebe Rexha; sang "Baby, I'm Jealous" (Big Turkey Spectacular)
- Ally Brooke; sang "We Are A Family" (Blues Clues & You)
- AJR; sang "Bang!" (Splashing Safari Adventure)
- Sofia Carson; sang "Guess I'm a Liar" (Everyone's Favorite Bake Shop)
- Keke Palmer; sang "Dreamcatcher" (Rexy in the City)
- Ronald McDonald and Grimace (Big Red Shoe Car)
- Miss America 2020 Camille Schrier
- CNCO; sang "Tan Enamorados" (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- Karol G; sang "Ay, DiOs Mío!" and "Tusa" (Her Future is Stem-Sational)
- Darlene Love; sang "A Marshmallow World" (Toy House of Marvelous Milestones)
- Brett Young; sang "Here Tonight" (Harvest in the Valley)
- Lauren Alaina; sang "Run" (Mount Rushmore's American Pride)
- Patti LaBelle; sang "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
- Goo Goo Dolls; sang "This Is Christmas" (The Brick-Changer)
- Dolly Parton; sang "Holly Jolly Christmas"
- Tori Kelly; sang "25th" (Christmas in Town Square)
- Matthew Morrison and the Cast of How The Grinch Stole Christmas Live; performed "Whos Love Christmas"
- New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Ashley Bouder (Central Park)
- Pentatonix; sang "My Favorite Things" (Heartwarming Holiday Countdown)
- Macy's Singing Christmas Tree Choir, sang "We Believe"
- Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus (Santa's Sleigh)
Performance Groups
- Zeta Phi Beta; performed "100 Yearz of Finer"
- Coney Island USA's Mermaid Parade
- Indigenous Ambassadors
- West Indian American Day Carnival Association; performed "CaribFuturism: LOVE. CULTURE. PEOPLE"
- Pikachu Dance Performance; performed "Gotta Catch 'Em All"
- The National Puerto Rican Day Parade; performed "La Bamba"
- The Big Apple Circus; performed "Meet Me at the Circus"
- The Radio City Rockettes; performed "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers"
Clowns
- Corny-Copia Clowns - 16th time
- Turkey Tech Players & Sports Fans - 10th time
- Funny Flurry Clowns - 2nd time
- Half-Baked Holiday Sweets - 13th time
- City Tourist Clowns - 6th time
- Toy Blocks - 4th time
- Nutty-Cracker Ballet Clowns - 10th time
Stilt Walkers
- Statue of Liberty - 3rd tme
- Chrysler Building - 3rd time
- Empire State Building - 3rd time
- Entenmann’s Bakers - 4th time
- Lumberjacks
- Candy Canes
- Snowflakes
- Candy Cadet - 1st time
- Candy Girl - 2nd time
- Christmas Trees
- Candy Puppeteers - 2nd time
- Toy Soldiers
Broadway Musicals
- Hamilton; performed "The Schuyler Sisters"
- Jagged Little Pill; performed "You Learn"
- Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations; performed "My Girl" and "Get Ready"
- Mean Girls: The Musical; performed "Somebody Gets Hurt"
Changes
Due to the ongoing 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade underwent several modifications in order to ensure safety for participants. Listed below are several changes that were implemented for the 2020 Parade.
- The traditional 2.5-mile Parade route was not utilized, with the only way to view the celebration being on television.
- All participants, staff and performers were tested for COVID-19 and underwent wellness checks prior to their Parade participation
- All participants were appropriately socially distanced during staging and performances, and required to wear face coverings; additional personal protective protocols were implemented based on the participant’s role
- The overall number of participants were reduced by approximately 88%, and split over three days
- No participant in the Parade was under 18 years of age
- The majority of Parade participants hailed from the New York tri-state area
- Previously selected regional High School and College Marching Band performances were deferred to the 2021 Macy's Parade, with locally based cultural and professional marching and musical ensembles taking over performance duties in the lineup
- A selection of balloons (with the exception of an Opening Macy's Star, Red Titan, The Boss Baby, Love Flies Up to the Sky and a Red "Believe" Star) were showcased on television from previous Parade appearances
- A selection of Macy's signature giant character balloons were flown without the traditional 80-100 handlers and instead employ an innovative, specially rigged anchor vehicle framework of five specialty vehicles tested and approved by the NYC Department of Transportation and the NYPD
- Macy's traditional Giant Balloon Inflation public event in New York City, the evening before Thanksgiving, did not take place
- 60 members of the Macy's Singing Christmas Tree Choir were invited back to virtually perform an original Christmas carol, composed by Judith Clurman.
