The 11 best Thanksgiving parades in the U.S.

The Macy’s parade, which celebrates 99 years this year, is truly a sight to behold, especially if it’s your first time watching it in person from the crowded route through midtown Manhattan. More than 53 million people watch this, the country’s biggest Thanksgiving parade, both from the sidewalk and from the comfort of their sofas. Giant balloons, enormous floats, cheerleaders, marching bands and celebrity singers slowly make their way from Central Park West, near Columbus Circle, eventually ending up at Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square.

In 2025, you can expect to see 30 huge balloons, 21 floats and 33 clown crews along this 2.5-mile route. If you plan to come in person, preparation is key: Wear comfortable shoes, dress in layers and note where coffee shops are. The best viewing spots are generally considered to be at Central Park West, Columbus Circle, 6th Avenue and 34th Street. Crowds also gather the day before to watch the exciting process of inflating all the giant balloons.

Date and time: November 27 8:30am–noon

What better place to enjoy a Thanksgiving parade than where it all started? At Plymouth, the America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration parade begins at Plymouth Rock (where the pilgrims are said to have first set foot on land) and ends at Court and Nelson streets. It usually takes place the weekend before Thanksgiving—but gets rebroadcast on WCVB Channel 5 and through the VeryLocal app at 9am on the day in question. Along with the traditional music of drum and bugle corps and military bands, the floats represents historic events of every period of American history (past editions have celebrated D-Day, Apollo 11 and, of course, the first Thanksgiving).

If you come to experience the parade in person, make time to visit Plimoth Patuxet Museums, an incredible recreation of the pilgrims’ and indigenous Pokanokets’ settlements. Since the original feasters in 1621 celebrated for three days, so too does Plymouth with concerts, beer gardens, a waterfront festival and a first-ever holiday village this year. Bring canned goods to the parade to continue the tradition of feeding others.

Date and time: Nov 22 10am–noon

While the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is arguably the most well-known, Philadelphia’s 6abc Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade is, in fact, the oldest: This year is the 106th observance! With a 2025 theme of Holiday Magic, the 1.4-mile-long route will be lined with thousands of warmly-wrapped onlookers as the carnival starts downtown at 20th Street and JFK Boulevard, finally ending up at the base of the famed Philadelphia Museum of Art. You can expect dozens of floats and balloons, marching bands, local performers from dance groups and choirs. The best views can be found along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, including Logan Circle, plus Eakins Oval and JFK Boulevard and 20th Street. You can stream the parade on 6abc, Hulu, ABCNewsLive or Disney+.

Date and time: Nov 27 8:30am–noon

This one definitely requires warm clothes. The three-hour-long Chicago Thanksgiving Parade travels up Chicago’s legendary State Street from Ida B. Wells Drive to Randolph Street. Celebrating 90 years in 2025, the parade incorporates festive floats, marching bands, cultural performance troupes and equestrian units. Some hardcore devotees even bring little step ladders to gain a few extra, precious inches over the top of the crowds. If you aren’t in Chicago, tune in to PlutoTV to watch from home.

Date and time: Nov 27 8–11am

America’s Comeback City also boasts one of the oldest Thanksgiving Day parades in the U.S., a tradition that started in 1924. The route travels three miles along Woodward Avenue from Kirby Street to Congress Street. This year the parade includes more than 75 floats, balloons and marching bands processionals. Don’t miss the the Big Head Corps, about 150 folks wearing massive papier-mâché character heads which capture your gaze and attention, originally made in Viareggio, Italy, or the Distinguished Clown Corps, a huge group of traditional clowns who pass out beads and entertain the crowds.

Date and time: Nove 27 8:45–10:15am

To be honest, the timing of the Novant Health Thanksgiving Eve Parade makes more sense to us: Have the parade the day before, and then Thanksgiving itself is devoted to nothing but food and its making. In 2025, this Thanksgiving Eve parade celebrates 79 years of entertaining viewers in uptown Charlotte, starting at Tryon and 9th Streets and ending at Tryon and Good Samaritan Way. As the biggest Thanksgiving parade in the Southeast, it has the expected balloons and floats, dance groups, high school and community marching bands, musicians, local celebrities and (new this year) a majorette dance group.

Date and time: Nov 26 5:30–8pm

The tradition of watching the H-E-B Thanksgiving Day parade in Houston is almost as important as the turkey dinner. It all started in 1949, when Santa Claus arrived at Union Station and went through the streets to Foley’s department store (later rebranded as Macy’s) to officially ring in the holiday season. Since then, all manner of creative and colorful people and things have joined the parade, including giant, inflatable balloons, cheerleaders, extravagant floats, local law enforcement, clowns, marching bands, musicians and just everything and everyone in between. The parade route covers some 20-something city blocks. (For those unfamiliar, H-E-B is a Texas-based grocery store chain.)

Date and time: Nov 27 9–11am

This year, parade goers can expect over 120 parade units for Ameren’s Thanks for Giving Parade, St. Louis’s 41st celebratory parade. Note that in 2025, the parade is on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Visitors can start the holiday season off right with balloons, marching bands (which will be judged, always exciting), musical floats, dance groups and an appearance from Santa Claus. The parade usually starts at North Broadway and Market Street before moving to downtown St. Louis.

Date and time: Nov 22 2–4pm

No one tells New Orleans how to party, and Thanksgiving is no exception—as if this city needed an excuse for folk to fill the streets, restaurants and bars. The annual Bayou Classic Thanksgiving Day Parade starts at the Caesars Superdome, continues along Poydras Street and wiggles its way back to end at Loyola Avenue. As you can imagine, the brass bands are spectacular and uplifting, and all the typical parade elements are here with an extra dose of Nola charm. And if you are looking for a way to move your limbs before you sink into a tryptophan stupor, the Turkey Day Race, established in 1907 and the fifth oldest continuous race in the nation, is a great way to start the day.

Date and time: Nov 27 3–5pm

The joyful Stamford Downtown Parade Spectacular happens on the Sunday before Thanksgiving—maybe so you can travel just over an hour to also attend the Macy’s parade in New York City just a few days later—and incorporates BFB (bands, floats, balloons). Muppets like Grover and Elmo will be presented in balloon form, as will Mr. Potato Head (prior to his transforming into mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving). This event is a ginormous production, and you may catch Santa rappelling off a skyscraper. New this year is the Flippenout Extreme Trampoline show with world-class athletes on skis and snowboards, launching themselves as high as 25 feet into the air. The Point72 Giant Balloon Inflation Party happens the day before with live performances.

Date and time: Nov 23 noon–2pm

This year is a golden anniversary for the 50th annual WinterNational Thanksgiving Day Parade. Enjoy cultural floats, classic cars, marching bands, dance teams and giant balloons to celebrate the community’s multicultural heritage—all at a high-70s temperature as you bask in Florida’s kitchen-like warmth. The parade route is along NE 125th Street in downtown North Miami. More than 3,000 spectactors are expected for this landmark parade.

Date and time: Nov 27 10am–noon