The annual tradition of airing out the skies of New York City to thousands of festive spectators with a parade balloon has earned itself many unwanted moments of fame over the decades.
Surreal moments from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Read more
US tradition The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a culmination of two months of preparation by professional balloonists and tens of thousands of volunteers, took place on Thursday. Some 60 million people are expected to tune in to watch the event, according to the company, which is a sponsor, and that number has increased every year since the first parade, held in 1924.
This year’s parade kicked off in Lower Manhattan after a cross-channel boat race was canceled due to weather. The parade typically runs along Central Park West from the 63rd Street bridge to the Empire State Building.
NBC – the producer of the parade – releases a stream of videos of the event in real time on the network’s website. Viewers can also set their DVRs to skip commercials and only watch the live feed if they are watching live on NBC. At some point in the seven hour long broadcast, a total of 75 balloons will be launched and released, including Santa’s reindeer reindeer. This is supposed to be the largest balloon release of its kind in Macy’s history.
Below are some of the more notable flying mishaps from the parade over the years.