Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Rehearsals - Day 2

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Rehearsals

It's always fascinating to be able to photograph behind the scenes and attending the run through of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an absolute honor for a photographer. They shut down 34th street two evenings in a row and bring out almost all of the performers to check the run through and lighting.

Ben Hider - Event Photographer based in New York City and Westchester

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by the U.S.-based department storechain Macy's. The tradition started in 1924,^[2] tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia). The three-hour Macy's event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Rehearsals - Day 1

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Rehearsals - Day 1

Ben Hider - Event Photographer based in New York City and Westchester

The balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade come in three varieties. The first and oldest is the novelty balloon class, consisting of smaller balloons, some of which fit on the heads of the performers; the largest of the novelty balloons typically require approximately 30 handlers. The second, and most famous, is the full-size balloon class, primarily consisting of licensed pop-culture characters; each of these is handled by exactly 90 people. The third and is the "Blue Sky Gallery," a program that ran from 2005 to 2012 and transformed the works of contemporary artists into full-size balloons.

The following is a list of balloons that have, over the years, been featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, sorted by their first year in the lineup. Underlined items indicate entries in the Blue Sky Gallery.