Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Wiki

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Wiki
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The 94th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade aired on NBC on November 26, 2020 from 9 a.m. to noon EST. It was hosted by Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker. The event is notable for taking place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the Parade's workforce being reduced by 88% and the event itself being filmed over the course of three days.

Parade Lineup[]

Listed below are the Parade elements that appeared in the 2020 line of march. Each element is listed in their respective categories/sub-categories, with sponsors in bold.

Bold indicates a new Parade element, an underline indicates an element that was brought back after an absence, and * indicates an element retired after the 2020 procession.

Balloons[]

Giant Balloons[]

Novelty Balloons[]

Balloonicles[]

Floats[]

Specialty Units[]

Toy Floats[]

Marching Bands[]

Guest Stars[]

Special Characters[]

Performance Groups[]

Clowns[]

Stilt Walkers[]

Broadway Musicals[]

Changes[]

Main article: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2020 Changes and Filming

Due to the COVID-19 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.

In the weeks leading up to the Parade, several elements were also pulled from the lineup in order to further reduce the amount of participants, following rising cases of COVID-19 throughout the New York area. The elements cut included:

Trivia[]

  • Celebrities featured in the "Thanksgiving Messages" segments of the NBC telecast included Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman (Making It), Ben Feldman (Superstore), Chrissy Metz (This Is Us), Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), tWitch and Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen's Game of Games), Blake Shelton (The Voice), Harry Lennix (The Blacklist), Eric Marstolf (Days of Our Lives), Lil Rel Howry (Small Fortune), Big Bird, Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Rosita, and Grover (Sesame Street), Noah Lyles (two-time world champion in track and field), David Boudia (four time Olympic Gold Medalist in diving), Allyson Felix (nine time Olympic Gold Medalist in track and field), Tatyana McFadden (17 time Paralympic Gold Medalist in track and field), Simone Biles (four time Olympic Gold Medalist in gymnastics), John Legend (The Voice), Jane Lynch (Weakest Link), Lester Holt (Nightly News), Nick Jonas (The Voice), Deidre Hall (Days of Our Lives), Kelly Clarkson (The Voice), Jesse Lee Soffer (Chicago P.D.), Taylor Kinney (Chicago Fire), Christian Stolte (Chicago Fire), Patrick Flueger (Chicago P.D.), Nick Gehlfuss (Chicago Med), Amy Morton (Chicago P.D.), Jason Beghe (Chicago P.D.), Alberto Rosende (Chicago Fire), LaRoyce Hawkins (Chicago Fire), Alex Newell (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist), Mary Steenburgen (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist), Jane Levy (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist), and Michael Thomas Grant (Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist).

NBC Credits[]

  • Executive Producer: Brad Lachman
  • Co-Executive Producer: Bill Bracken
  • Directed by: Ron de Moraes
  • Written by: Max Lachman and Brad Lachman
  • Musical Director: Ray Chew
  • Coordinating Producer: Carmela Tripodi
  • Producer: Matt Lachman
  • Talent Producers: JB Talent
  • Production Supervisor: Nicole Gauthier
  • Art Director: Ed Helbig
  • Script Supervisors: Tori Rose and Brittany Thompson
  • Line Producer: Adam Wald
  • Senior Technical Manager: Mike Matthews
  • Technical Manager: Joe Caffrey
  • Senior Production Manager: Cate Cetta
  • Production Managers: Dylan Van Arsdale and Ben Davies
  • Production Manager (EHS): Madison Marolda
  • Music Manager: Jaynell Grayson
  • Music Production: Al Theurer
  • Assistant to the Executive Producer: Kathryn Bracken
  • Segment Director: Brad Lachman
  • Associate Directors: Robin Mishkin Abrams, Bill Bracken, John Coleman, Casey B. Davis, Christopher Gray, Kate Hollanda, and Susan Kramer
  • Stage Managers: Smith Sumroy, Dave Auerbach, and Chris Kelly
  • Production Coordinators: Matthew Fodera and Corin Pankow
  • Music Coordinator: Scott Siegel
  • Production Assistants: Emily Conklin, Chet Craft, Kristen Egan, Dominick Famularo, Gema Interiano, Danielle McKernan, Julia Mewborne, Jason Monto, Tori Pierce, Dabney Rauh, Erika Simmons, and Michael Valentino
  • Technical Director: Brad Gersten
  • Lighting Director: Geoff Amoral
  • Announcer: Les Marshak
  • Backtimer: Molly Gray
  • Post Production Supervisor: David Emanuele
  • Editors: Colin Dow and Noah Rosenstein
  • Senior Audio: Jorge Silva and Chris Acker
  • Audio: Greg Acker, John Ariz, Jay Carrie, Nils de Korte, Frank Duca, John Peter Erskine, Will Finan, Josh Flower, Bob Selitto, Jim Tomlinson, Jim Van Bergen, and Shawn Walsh
  • Graphic Design: Chris Callahan and Mark Perricone
  • XPression: Layne Dorenstein
  • Senior Video: Oliver Bosili
  • Video: Chris Halloran
  • Video Playback: Mark Katz and Kevin Hamel
  • Video Record: Allan Buchner
  • Promotional Consideration Provided by: Verizon
  • Parade Archival Footage: University of South Carolina MIRC
  • Special Thanks: Mayor's Office of City Wide Events, NYCDOT, NYPD, Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment, Macy's Parade Families and Dedicated Volunteers

For Macy's[]

  • Executive Producer: Susan Tercero
  • Creative Producer: Wesley Whatley
  • Parade Producer: Jordan Dabby
  • Line Producer: Chris Bannon
  • Creative Director: Rick Pomer
  • Parade Production Directors: Lenny Drenski and Carolynn Kolinsky
  • Publicity: Orlando Veras, Christine Olver Nealon, and Bridget Betances
  • Associate Producers: Carolyn Dellisanti, Sara Flores, and Kathleen Wright
  • Costume Director: Kimberly Montgomery
  • Administration: Camile Davis
  • Production Managers: Krystin Arrabito, Katherine Christakos, Jenna Geniale, Brett Gearity, Tanner Glaves, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Charles Hoppe, Eric Hudspeth, Matt Kaprielian, Paul Lopacinski, Madeline Magardician, Nicole Roberts, and Evelyn Tam
  • Parade Studio: Joseph Ammons, Gerard Angelella, Christian Bracco, Cameron Carnivale, John Cheney, Geoffrey Donnelly, Brian Drew, Jesse Haack, Tina Pfefferkorn, Dennis Salerno, Thomas Schnackenberg, Loryn Sotsky, Cory Stallworth, Gregory Thompson, Sean Tulner, and Cory Watson
  • Production Coordinators: Jackie Filer, Justin Gaither, Darlene Peaco, Mackenzie Schroeder, Matthew Taft, and Erin Stief
  • Production Assistants: Marty Galak, Hamila Henderson, Kat Klein, Lauren Rossi, Bill Barton, Garrett Bazzle, Claire Beck, Rudy Botelho, Rebecca Christian, William Cooney, Nerissa Diaz, Gina Gilligan, Bob Greiser, Matt Guarino, Alexander Kanderis, Katherine Miller, Ryan Miller, Noelle Rasco, Jeffrey Reid, Stacy Smitheginton, and Beatrice Sniper

See also[]

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