Macy’s Celebrates 90th Thanksgiving Day Parade with Felix the Cat

Floats and balloons abound as Macy's commemorates its annual Thanksgiving Day. Parade, Thursday, in New York City. To celebrate its 90^th outing, one of the parade's first balloons will be joining the event again.

Several floats and balloons were added to the parade this year, including Trixie the Dog balloon, Deramworks' Trolls balloon, the Aloha Spirit float by King's Hawaiian and the Fun House float by Krazy Glue. While the Snoopy's Doghouse float marked its presence on the ground, the Charlie Brown balloon represented the Peanuts gang, which has been part of the parade for a long time, in the air.

 Another welcome addition to the event is the Felix the Cat balloon, which was the parade's first balloon entry since its inception in 1924. USA Today adds that the balloon was carried with sticks, as it originally appeared in 1927.

Tony Bennett, LunchMoney Lewis, Regina Spektor, Easton Corbin and Aloe Blancc were among the performers who lent their talent to the parade.

Starting from the corner of 77^th street and Central Park West, the three-hour event saw around 16 character balloons, 27 novelty balloons, 26 floats, 16 marching bands and performers, and more than a thousand dancers, cheerleaders and clowns pass through the 2.5-mile route. The Muppets' performance kicked off the event. Passing through Central Park West, the parade took a turn over at Columbus Avenue, then went south at 6^th Avenue. The parade stopped on 34^th street, in front of Macy's flagship store. Santa's appearance around noon marked the end of the event.

Streaming via Verizon's YouTube channel, this marks the first time the event is shown via live stream. US Weekly reports that the live stream was initiated by Macy's and NBC Universal, which gives 360-degree view of the event, as well as access to some action that happened behind the scenes, such as the inflation of the balloons used in the parade. The live stream also included some pop-up graphics, with Marlon Wayans and Olivia Culpo tasked as curators.

Started in 1924, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been celebrated by the company to signal the start of the holiday season.