A common tradition for many families is to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, whether from the safety of their own home or from the sidelines of the parade itself.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been in existence for 92 years. Beginning at 9:00 a.m. on NBC, the parade has spectacular floats, marching bands, performances from Broadway casts and pop starlets, The Rockettes, and an appearance from the man of the hour himself, Santa Claus. Despite the temperature’s dropping to a record-breaking 21 degrees, the icy weather and winds did not stop anyone from making their annual midtown pilgrimage.

As early as the day before the parade, New Yorkers and tourists gather to watch the inflation of the parade’s famous balloons. Some balloons are parade staples such as Paw Patrol, Charlie Brown, Olaf, Power Rangers, and many more.

Promotional floats also make their march down New York’s 5th Avenue. Among the annual floats are Tom Turkey, Fun House, and Snoopy’s Doghouse. With 2018 came the arrival of even more, such as the Fantasy Chocolate Factory, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Splashing Safari Adventure. 

Highlights included the marchers themselves, chief among them clown troupes. According to NBC, over 1,000 clowns are hired by Macy’s to spread joy to children everywhere (and provide Macy’s with some much-needed advertising). Eleven marching bands, among them talented high school and college ensembles, performed their greatest pieces.

Some of the other performers included Kelly Clarkson, Sugarland, Ashley Tisdale, Martina McBride, and John Legend. These amazing singers were able to take everyone’s breath away performing on this special day, despite their obvious use of auto tune and assorted lip syncing wizardry. But pop starlets were not the only performers at the parade. Broadway musical performances are the pride of The Big Apple, and excerpts from shows like Dear Evan Hansen and King Kong made their appearance. There were even some performances from The Fred Astaire Dance Studio, Spirit of America Dance Stars, and Spirit of America Cheer.

Ever since the start of the parade, Macy’s employees have participated in it and brought their families to this special event; it is a day of celebration and to be thankful for the world and one another.

It takes about 18 months to plan the parade every year, so Macy’s has already began planning for 2019. In the meantime, this year’s parade will tide the American populace over until next year. It gets people excited for the holiday season and even better than that, family! The parade is filled with love, happiness, and magic that rubs off on everyone.

Watch the entirety of the parade on here.