Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2025 Details: TV Hosts, New Balloons, Floats & Performances

For its 99th anniversary, the creators of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade have spent the last 18 months working to deliver a showstopping spectacle one to remember.

“We are the largest and hopefully most entertaining variety show on television,” executive producer Will Coss tells TV Insider. “Friends, strangers, family come together for an opportunity to just be together.”

This year, they’ll watch giant balloons featuring new additions from the video game world, such as Pac-Man and Mario. Audiences can also expect the float game to deliver on current pop culture trends, like a Stranger Things float boasting an 8-foot-tall Demogorgon that’s puppeteered in classic parade fashion.

“We’re bringing it back to our roots, but we’re adding some new technologies to it,” teases Coss. “The face will open and close, the arms will move, and it’ll give this real sense of live theater along the parade route.” Music-wise, look for performers like Jewel, Busta Rhymes, and more.

Read on for all of the details about the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

When does the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade air?

The parade airs on Thursday, November 27, starting at 8:30a/7:30c on NBC. It will air again as an encore at 2/1c.

Who will host the Macy’s parade in 2025?

Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker will once again host the event.

What are the new balloons and floats at this year’s parade?

This year’s balloons will include four giant balloons. Says executive producer Will Coss, “We’ve got the one and only Buzz Lightyear returning to the parade again. We’ve got Pac-Man, who will be premiering for the first time in the parade this year. We have a new balloon with Shrek and a variety of characters from the upcoming film. And for the first time… Mario will be joining us from the Nintendo franchise.”

Fans can also expect the float game to deliver on current pop culture, as Macy’s joins in on the Labubu craze with a PopMart character float, along with a Lindt float that hosts a “ballroom scene that comes to life.” Plus, there’s a Lego installation with multiple scenes that brickmasters can recreate right at home. “The beauty of that float is… you can put the actual float together based on the pieces.”

The Upside-Down will also make way down 34th Street with a Stranger Things float featuring an 8-foot-tall Demogorgon that’s puppeteered in classic Macy’s parade fashion.

The lineup includes a roster of 5,000 volunteers, 32 balloons, 3 ballonicles, 27 floats, 4 specialty units, 33 clown groups, 11 marching bands, and, of course, the arrival of Santa Claus as the grand finale.

Eugene Gologursky / Getty Images for Macy’s

Who will perform at the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

The list of performances for this year’s celebration includes EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI, the singing voices of HUNTR/X from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters. Some of Broadway’s biggest hits, “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Just in Time,” and “Ragtime,” will also be performed, and the Radio City Rockettes celebrate their 100th year as performers. Others performing at the event are Drew Baldridge, Matteo Bocelli, Colbie Caillat, Ciara, Gavin DeGraw, Meg Donnelly, Mr. Fantasy, Foreigner, Debbie Gibson, Mickey Guyton, Christopher Jackson, Jewel, Lil Jon, Kool & the Gang, Darlene Love, Roman Mejia, Taylor Momsen, Tiler Peck, Busta Rhymes, Calum Scott, Shaggy, Lauren Spencer Smith, Luísa Sonza and Teyana Taylor with Appearances by Nikki DeLoach, U.S. Olympian Ilia Malinin, Kristoffer Polaha, U.S Paralympian Jack Wallace, and Special Correspondent Sean Evans.

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 “This year, I think, is a good representation of, as we like to say, our 1 to 100 [age] demographic. We really want to aim to ensure that everyone across America has a little something to dial into. We are the soundtrack of parade morning and excited about the lineup that we have pulled together. And of course, there’ll be some more surprises released in the upcoming weeks,” Coss teased.

The band performers for this year include: Banda de Musica La Primavera (Santiago, Panama); Catawba Ridge High School Marching Band (Fort Mill, South Carolina); Damien Spartan Regiment (La Verne, California); L.D. Bell Blue Raider Band (Hurst, Texas); Macy’s Great American Marching Band (United States); Northern Arizona University Lumberjack Marching Band (Flagstaff, Arizona); Alcorn State University Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite (Lorman, Mississippi); Spartans Jr Drum and Bugle Corps (Nashua, New Hampshire); The Marching Pride of North Alabama (Florence, Alabama); and The Temple University Diamond Band (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). The NYPD Marching Band (New York City, New York) will also join the festivities.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, November 27, 8:30a/7:30c, NBC