Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Best Viewing Spots

Everybody loves a parade, and the best parade on the planet is the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

Here are the best viewing spots for the extravaganza which officially ushers in the Christmas Season in NYC, with hundreds of marching bands, celebrity-filled floats and those iconic larger-than-life balloons.

Santa is always on the last float, with his Elves, headed for Macy’s Santaland at the flagship store in Herald Square, where he will meet daily until Christmas Eve with all the good little girls and boys.

Here is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade route for 2024, and best viewing spots to watch the parade marching by.

There are 2.5 miles of public viewing along the parade route, and 3.5 million people are expected to watch the parade live and in-person.

The Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade kicks off at 8:30am in NYC, the hometown of ecoXplorer and NYC Travel Guru Evelyn Kanter.

Note the new 8:30am start time – that’s 30 minutes earlier than the longtime 9am start time.

Since the parade still ends at Noon, that means the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is 30 minutes longer than last year.

Balloon Inflation

For many fans, the parade starts the night before, at the balloon inflation, which used to be called Balloonfest, and watch the giant balloons come to life one arm or leg at a time.

Enter the line for viewing at West 72nd Street and Central Park West, for the actual viewing at West 77th St.

Large backpacks, coolers, alcoholic beverages, chairs, and umbrellas are expressly prohibited.

Participants will be screened prior to entering the viewing route.

The balloon viewing path winds around the American Museum of Natural History.

Spectators exit the viewing area at West 81st Street and Central Park West.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Best Viewing Spots

West 77th Street & Central Park West

This is where the balloons and their handlers, marching bands and floats gather.

• There is no public viewing here.

Central Park West

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marches down Central Park West from 77th to 59th St., so there is nearly one mile of vantage points.

Except in NYC, we don’t measure distances in miles – we measure them in blocks or subway stations.

Get there by 6am for a front row standing-only spot on the west side of Central Park West. The later you arrive, the further back you and the kids are behind the barricades.

• There are great views all along this stretch.

ecoXplorer/NYC Travel Guru Insider Tip –

• Park yourself and the kids close to a subway stop, such as 66th St. or 72nd St.,
• When the parade passes by, hop on the subway to get home or back to your hotel and watch the rest of the parade on TV.
• That’s what I used to do with my kids when they were small.

Columbus Circle

The Parade turns east here from Central Park West onto Central Park South, and continues south along Sixth Avenue to Herald Square.

• There is no public viewing here.

ecoXplorer NYC Travel Guru Insider Tip  –

• Go inside the shopping atrium at the Time Warner Center to the balcony on the second floor for a great view of the parade passing by.

Sixth Avenue (also known as Avenue of the Americas)

There is more than one mile of viewing space as the parade marches south.

• Great views from West 59th to West 38th Streets 

Restricted Viewing around Macy’s Herald Square

These streets are off-limits except for television broadcast crews and entertainers –

• Sixth Avenue between 38th and 34th Streets
• 34th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

Macy’s Herald Square

The Parade makes its final turn and stops in front of Macy’s Herald Square

• There is no public viewing here.

Macy’s Grandstand Tickets

• Macy’s limited grandstand tickets are not for sale to the general public.
• If anybody offers to sell you a grandstand tickets, don’t buy it – it’s a scam.

Performers and Floats in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Performers in 2024 include – include: 

This year’s parade will feature Bishop Briggs, Kylie Cantrall, Chlöe, Dan + Shay, Dasha, Jimmy Fallon & The Roots, Coco Jones, Walker Hayes, Ariana Madix, Joey McIntyre, Idina Menzel, Natti Natasha, T-Pain, Rachel Platten, Lea Salonga, The Temptations, The War and Treaty, Alex Warren and Sebastián Yatra, in addition to Charli D’Amelio and ballet dancers Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia.

The parade will also include performances from the iconic Radio City Rockettes and the Broadway shows Death Becomes Her, Hell’s Kitchen and The Outsiders.

Floats include – 

Netflix, Pinkfong’s Baby Shark, Toys’R’Us, Sesame Street, McDonald’s, and Nickelodeon.

Marching bands include –

• The University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band (Amherst, MA),
• Avon Marching Black & Gold (Avon, IN), East Tennessee State University Marching Buccaneers (Johnson City, TN),
• Flower Mound High School Marching Band (Flower Mound, TX), The Lake Hamilton High School Marching Band (Hot Springs, AR),
• Sioux Falls Lincoln High School “Patriot” Marching Band (Sioux Falls, SD),
• The Majestic Marching Cardinals of Jonesboro High School (Morrow, GA),
• Macy’s Great American Marching Band (United States),
• The Carolina Band of the University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC)
• “the Pride of West Virginia”-The Mountaineer Marching Band (Morgantown, WV)
• and the NYPD Marching Band

Find more information about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade here. 

All photos courtesy Macy’s

This article was published originally on NYC on the Cheap, which was hacked and held for ransom in Feb. 2022 and destroyed by the hackers.

This article was updated and published here in 2022, updated for 2023 and again for 2024.

Enjoy the parade.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA), a former Board Member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and a current member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).

Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.

Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter