Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2023 Route and Performers

The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is right around the corner, and viewers can expect to be treated to a variety of musical performances and festive fun when it kicks off on Thursday morning.

For decades, the New York City extravaganza has had families across the United States glued to their TV screens. Starting in 1924, the Thanksgiving tradition features a parade of floats, bands, balloons and famous faces walking along the streets of Manhattan, lasting about three hours.

Here's everything you need to know about this Thursday's start time, the parade route, the floats, performances and more.

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Start Time

As the years go on, the parade's start time is getting earlier and earlier.

While in previous years the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began at 9 a.m., in 2022 it started earlier than normal when it kicked off at 8:45 a.m. This year, for the first time, the Thanksgiving parade will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Parade Entertainers and Performers

Viewers can expect performances from a variety of pop stars, Broadway entertainers, 11 marching bands, 700 clowns, eight performance groups and others.

The parade will start with a performance from Jon Batiste, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who has recorded and performed with Stevie Wonder, Prince, Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Rey.

To close out the show this year, Santa Claus will be accompanied on his sleigh by Cher, who will be performing a new holiday song. The singer is preparing to release a 25th-anniversary edition of her Grammy-winning album Believe and just dropped her first new album in five years, Christmas.

Other performers include Brandy, David Foster, Katharine McPhee, Ashley Park with the cast and muppets of Sesame Street, Bell Biv DeVoe, Chicago, En Vogue and Enhyphen.

Thanksgiving Parade Balloons and Floats

This year's parade will feature 25 balloons, six balloonicles (a portmanteau of balloon and vehicle) and 31 floats. Seven new balloon giants will join the lineup: Beagle Scout Snoopy, Blue Cat & Chugs, Kung Fu Panda's Po, Leo the lizard, One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Uncle Dan.

Beagle Scout Snoopy is the ninth version of the longest-running character balloon in the parade. After winning a fan vote for the first-ever NFT parade balloon, the comic character Blue Cat and his best friend, Chugs, are making their debut in the parade this year.

Kung Fu Panda's Po returns to the parade with an all-new look this year ahead of the film Kung Fu Panda 4, to be released next spring. Leo, who will be joining the parade for the first time, is a 74-year-old lizard starring in Netflix's new animated film Leo, starring Adam Sandler.

Monkey D. Luffy is the main character in the One Piece animated series, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary next year. The Pillsbury Doughboy will be showcasing a new look, and joining the parade for the first time is Uncle Dan, the duck from Illumination's new comedy Migration.

Returning giant balloons include Bluey, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Paw Patrol, Ryan's World, Pikachu, Ronald McDonald, Stuart the Minion and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Some of the floats in attendance will be from brands like Lego, McDonald's, Solo Stove and Peacock.

Thanksgiving Parade Route

Starting on Manhattan's Upper West Side at West 77th Street and Central Park West, the parade follows a 2½-mile route. It will head south down Central Park West for 18 blocks to Columbus Circle. The parade will then turn onto Central Park South before proceeding east to Sixth Avenue.

From Central Park South and Sixth Avenue, the Parade turns onto Sixth Avenue and heads south to 34th Street. After that, the procession heads south from Sixth Avenue for 25 blocks to 34th Street. From there, the parade turns west onto Seventh Avenue.

Macy's Herald Square, located at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue, is where the parade comes to an end.