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97 PARADES AND COUNTING!
2,548
pages
in: Lineups, 2020s Parades, 2020s Lineups,
and 3 more

The 95th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2021)

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The 95th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 25, 2021, in New York City and was shown to viewers live on NBC and Peacock that same day from 9 a.m. to noon EST. It was hosted by Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker. The lineup featured 15 giant character balloons, 28 floats, 36 novelty and heritage inflatables, more than 800 clowns, 10 marching bands and 9 performance groups, a host of musical stars, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.

Overview[]

Under the giant helium balloons during the 2021 Macy's Parade were the usual 80-100 handlers that helped the nylon giants through the streets of New York - a sight that was not seen in over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also returning were performance groups, marching bands and the 3.5 million spectators that lined the streets of New York City for the first time since 2019. Among them, no word encapsulated the feeling of being back other than thankful.

Debuting as all-new giant balloons were Ada Twist, Scientist of Netflix fame, and Parade veterans Pikachu and Ronald McDonald, both with brand-new designs. The lovable Grogu—better known as Baby Yoda—soared down 34th Street as a massive crowd-pleaser. Joining them was Tiptoe, the first-ever puppet balloon, and Toni, the Bandleader Bear, who paid tribute to the Parade's marching band program.

Jon Batiste, who had been recently nominated for 11 Grammy awards, rode on a 60-foot long alligator courtesy of the Louisisana Department of Tourism. Not far behind, Captain Minnie set sail on the colossal Magic Meets the Sea float by Disney Cruise Line, and the cast of Girls5eva strutted their stuff on the glitzy Birds of a Feather Stream Together float from streaming service Peacock. Rapper Nelly waved from a float advertising Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, and the HEINZ Gravy Pirates ensured everyone had savory gravy for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Per usual, Santa Claus himself made his annual appearance in the Parade of all Parades. Aboard his colossal emerald and golden sleigh, Jolly Old Saint Nick delighted spectators as he signaled the unofficial start to the holiday season.

Parade Lineup[]

Listed below are the parade elements that appeared in the 2021 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, and an asterisk (*) signifies an element that was retired after the 2021 Parade.

Balloons[]

Giant Balloons[]

Novelty Balloons[]

Balloonicles[]

Trycaloons[]

Floats[]

Specialty Units[]

Toy Floats[]

Marching Bands[]

Guest Stars[]

Special Characters[]

Performance Groups[]

Pre-Parade Acts[]

Clowns[]

Stilt Walkers[]

Clown Vehicles[]

Trivia[]

  • The 95th annual procession marked the return of the 2.5-mile long Parade route, with spectators once again being allowed to line the streets of New York City. The 2021 Macy's Parade health and safety procedures included, but were not limited to the following:
    • All volunteer participants and staff were vaccinated. Vaccine verification was conducted at all back of house entry points. A few exceptions to this procedure was made at the sole discretion of Macy’s and its medical consultant based on select extenuating circumstances. For those rare instances, Macy’s medical consultant administered COVID-19 testing and clear the individual for Parade participation.
    • All participants and staff regardless of vaccination status wore face coverings and additional protective equipment, as warranted by their role. As appropriate, exceptions included singers, dancers and musicians performing down the route or for the national broadcast.
    • Macy’s implemented a reduction in the overall number of participants of between 10 to 20 percent (approximately 800 to 1,600 participants).
    • Social distancing practices were in place at all interior/exterior Parade operations including costuming areas, seating and participant check-in.
  • Both the Ada Twist, Scientist and Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloons experienced a loss of helium in their head chambers, however both were able to complete their march with no other problems.
  • Celebrities featured in the "Thanksgiving Messages" segments on the NBC telecast included Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock), Elizabeth Berkley Lauren (Saved by the Bell), Kyle Richards (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Taraji P. Henson (Annie Live!), Chrissy Metz (This Is Us), Kenan Thompson (Kenan), Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), Seth Meyers (Late Night with Seth Meyers), Nathan Chen (figure skating), Oksana Masters (para cross-country skiing and para biathlon), Elana Meyers Taylor (bobsled), Chloe Kim (snowboarding), Haskiri Velazquez (Saved by the Bell), Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell), Andy Cohen (Watch What Happens Live), Justin Hartley (This Is Us), Bill Nye (The End Is Nye), Mary Carillo (The National Dog Show presented by Purina), Todd Chrisley (Chrisley Knows Best), Zuri Hall (Access Hollywood), and Bobby Moynihan (Mr. Mayor).
  • President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were featured in a special over-the-phone interview with Al Roker during the Parade's first hour.
  • The NBC broadcast of the 2021 Parade drew more than 25.4 million viewers, down from the 25.9 million viewers who watched the 2020 Parade broadcast.[4]
  • The 2021 Parade's telecast on NBC won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing Team for a Multiple Camera Daytime Non-Fiction Program, and was also nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Special, losing to PBS' Shelter Me: Soul Awakened.[5]

NBC Credits[]

  • Executive Producers: Brad Lachman and Bill Bracken
  • Directed by: Ron de Moraes
  • Written by: Mark Waxman and Brad Lachman
  • Musical Director: Ray Chew
  • Coordinating Producer: Carmela Tripodi
  • Producer: Matt Lachman
  • Talent Producers: The Talent
  • Production Supervisor: Nicole Gauthier
  • Art Director: Ed Helbig
  • Script Supervisors: Becky Wahle Camp and Brittany Thompson
  • Line Producers: Adam Wald and Cate Cetta Scola
  • Senior Technical Manager: Mike Matthews
  • Technical Managers: Aaron Sasson and Joe Cocozza
  • Production Manager: Dylan Van Arsdale
  • EHS/COVID Compliance Supervisor: Madison Marolda
  • COVID Coordinator: John Clubb
  • Music Manager: Jaynell Grayson
  • Music Production: Al Theurer
  • Segment Director: Brad Lachman
  • Associate Producers: Susan Kopensky, Bill Bracken, Casey B. Davis, Dawn Dicicco, Judy Farinet, Renee Goldkorn, and Mike Torello
  • Stage Managers: Eddie Valk, Dave Auerbach, Joey Despenzero, Jeff Leib, and Vinny Sinopoli
  • AR Producer: Eddie Delbridge
  • Music Coordinator: Scott Siegel
  • Production Coordinators: Jennifer Lande and Corin Pankow
  • Production Assistants: Kyle Berman, Peter Charney, Chet Craft, Xavier Drudge, Bennett Gershnin, Colin Gravelle, Lily Guthrie, Lindsay Jones, Paul Laukaitis, Anna Lieberman, McKenzie Marshall, Maggie Mershon, Justin Miller, Tori Pierce, Dabney Rauh, Julia Russo, Mark Volf, and Savannah Wolfe
  • Technical Director: Brad Gersten
  • Lighting Director: Geoff Amoral
  • Announcer: Les Marshak
  • Backtimer: Molly Gray
  • Post Production Supervisor: David Emanuele
  • Editors: Gabe Almanza, Colin Dow, and Noah Rosenstein
  • Senior Audio: Jorge Silva, Chris Acker, and Joseph Shalhoup
  • Audio: Greg Acker, John Ariz, Mel Cubero, Nils de Korte, Frank Duca, John Peter Erskine, Will Finan, Josh Flower, Ricardo Gomez, Jack Goodwin, Doug Hamilton, Christian Schrader, Bob Selitto, Jim Tomilson, Gianluca Trombetta, Jim Van Bergen, and Shawn Walsh
  • Graphic Design: Chris Callahan, Mark Perricone, and Sheila Sullivan
  • XPression: Layne Dorenstein
  • Senior Video: Oliver Bosill
  • Video: Taylor Dees and Chris Halloran
  • Video Playback: Kevin Hamel
  • Video Record: Alan Buchner
  • Promotional Consideration Furnished by: Allstate and Frito-Lay
  • 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
  • In Memory Of: Smith Sumroy

For Macy's[]

  • Executive Producer: Will Coss
  • Creative Producer: Wesley Whatley
  • Parade Producer: Jordan Dabby
  • Line Producer: Christopher Bannon
  • Creative Director: Rick Pomer
  • Parade Production Directors: Carolynn Kolinsky and Lenny Drenski
  • Publicity: Orlando Veras, Christine Olver Nealon, and Ryan Gannon
  • Associate Producers: Emily Black, Carolyn Dellisanti, Sara Flores, and Kathleen Wright
  • Costume Director: Kimberly Montgomery
  • Financial Operations: Camile Davis
  • Production Managers: Gerard Angelella, Katherine Christakos, John De Leon, Jenna Geniale, Tanner Glaves, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Charles Hoppe, Eric Hudspeth, Matt Kaprielian, Paul Lopacinski, Madeleine Magardician, Nicole Roberts, and Evelyn Tam
  • Parade Studio: Joseph Ammons, Christian Bracco, Cameron Carnivale, John Cheney, Geoffrey Donnelly, Brian Drew, Matt Guarino, Jesse Haack, Alexander Kanderis, Tina Pfefferkorn, Noelle Rasco, Daniel Salerno, Thomas Schnackenberg, Loryn Sotsky, Cory Stallworth, Gregory Thompson, Sean Tulner, and Cory Watson
  • Production Coordinators: Jackie Filer, Darlene Peaco, Mackenzie Schroeder, Nicola Shackman-Ryden, Matthew Taft, and Erin Stief
  • Production Associates: Natalie Aders, Kris Ammerlaan, Sharik Atkinson, Devon Austin, Jason Baroody, Bill Barton, Garrett Bazzle, Rudy Botelho, Shannon Cartwright, Rebecca Christian, Liz Colabraro, Carlie Condemi, William Cooney, Billy Cowles, Alyssa Devers, Nerissa Diaz, Robin Erichsen, Eileen Farrell, Marty Galak, Gina Gilligan, Kiefer Handschuh, Josephine Hong, Chris Levy, Lauren Marchisotto, Katherine Miller, Michael Patinero, Jeffrey Reid, Lauren Rossi, Kelsey Sellenraad, Stacy Smith-Eginton, Justyn Wade, and Monica Zamora

Notes and References[]

  1. ↑ Kristin Chenoweth was initally scheduled to perform a song from her album, Happiness is...Christmas!, on the Balsam Hill float. However, she was unable to appear due to unknown reasons.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Turkey Tech Players & Sports Fans did not appear on route, as they were instead featured in a pre-Parade segment on NBC.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Indigenous Direction and #TheAccidentals Quartet only made appearances at 34th Street for the NBC telecast, and did not appear on the Parade route.
  4. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia. "NBC’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Telecast Tops 25 Million Viewers, But Dips From 2020." Variety, November 26, 2021.
  5. ↑ Wang, Jessica. "Daytime Emmy Awards 2022: See the full list of winners." Entertainment Weekly. June 24, 2022.

See also[]

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