By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Balloon inflation on the Upper West Side, open to the publicWednesday 25 November 2026
- Where
- Central Park West
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- November
- Dates
- Set by a weekday rule, so the date moves each year
Always the fourth Thursday in November. The 2026 parade is the hundredth: the first ran in 1924 and three wartime years were cancelled, which is why the count runs two behind the anniversary.
The single most useful thing to know is that Herald Square, where the parade finishes and where every televised moment happens, has no public viewing at all. The grandstand there is not sold to anyone, at any price. What you can watch is the route before it: Central Park West between roughly the sixties and the mid seventies, and Sixth Avenue from the high fifties down into the forties. Central Park West is the better of the two, because the balloons are freshest, the street is wide and the crowd is families rather than crush. Arrive around six in the morning for a front position, or accept a second or third row and turn up an hour or so later.
What the Thanksgiving Parade actually is
A three mile procession of giant helium character balloons, floats, marching bands and performers that has run on Thanksgiving morning in Manhattan since 1924. It starts on the Upper West Side beside Central Park, comes down Central Park West, turns east and then south onto Sixth Avenue, and ends at Macy’s flagship store on Herald Square. It is broadcast live to tens of millions of people, which is the reason the last stretch is closed off, and it draws several million to the pavements along the parts that are not. The balloons are the whole point: they are the height of a building, they fly low between the towers on Sixth Avenue, and on a windy morning they are visibly a struggle for the teams handling them.
Where to watch the Thanksgiving Parade
- Central Park West between the sixties and the mid seventies. The best public stretch by a distance. The balloons have just launched, the street is broad, the park is on one side so the crowd is only ever one deep in effect, and the atmosphere is families rather than tourists. This is where New Yorkers who still bother to go actually stand.
- Sixth Avenue from the high fifties down to about Forty Second Street. The classic view, with the balloons flying between skyscrapers. Denser than Central Park West and a colder wind funnel, but visually the most dramatic part of the route that the public can reach.
- The balloon inflation on the Upper West Side, the afternoon before. Free, open to the public, and for a lot of people better than the parade itself. The balloons are laid out and filled on the streets beside the American Museum of Natural History and you walk past them at ground level, close enough to see the seams. It runs through the afternoon and into the evening and it is the single most underrated thing on this list.
- Anywhere at all rather than Herald Square. Sixth Avenue between the mid thirties and the high thirties is effectively a dead zone for viewing, and Herald Square itself is closed for the broadcast. If your plan involves the finish, change the plan.
Tickets and what it costs
The parade is free and unticketed everywhere the public can stand, and there is no paid option that improves on it. The grandstand at Herald Square is not sold to the public in any form: not by the parade, not through hotels, not through tour operators, and anyone offering you a seat there is selling something else. What is genuinely sold is a view from a restaurant or hotel function room along the route, generally as a set-price breakfast running to several hundred dollars a head, and those book out months ahead. Rooms with a route-facing window on Central Park West or Sixth Avenue are priced accordingly and go the same way.
Official information and booking: www.nbc.com/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade
Getting there
Come by subway and come early. The B and C run directly under Central Park West and put you within a block of the best stretch, and the A, C, B and D reach the Columbus Circle end. For Sixth Avenue, the B, D, F and M run beneath it. Whole blocks of the Upper West Side and Midtown close from before dawn, crosstown buses are suspended along the route, and cabs and ride-hailing cannot get near it, so plan to walk the last stretch from whichever station you use. Bear in mind that once you are in a crowd on the park side, leaving before the parade has passed means working back through it.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Planning around Herald Square
The finish is where the television cameras are and where the public are not. There is no viewing area, the grandstand is not for sale, and the blocks approaching it are the weakest on the route. Everything worth seeing happens further north.
Buying a grandstand ticket from anybody
They do not exist. The seating at the finish is for invited guests and broadcast use only, and no legitimate reseller has access to it. An offer of one is a sign to walk away from whatever else is being sold alongside it.
Turning up at nine in the morning for a front row
People start claiming space on Central Park West before six. Arriving as the parade begins means standing several rows back, which for a parade of eight storey balloons is survivable but for the floats and bands is not.
Skipping the inflation the day before
It is free, it is far less crowded than the parade, you see the balloons close up rather than from a distance, and it fills an afternoon that would otherwise be dead. A lot of people who have done both prefer it.
Underdressing for a morning of standing still
You will be outdoors and motionless from before sunrise in late November, often in wind funnelled between towers on Sixth Avenue. Thermal layers, proper gloves and a flask are the difference between staying for the whole parade and giving up partway through.
Other New York City events
Frequently asked questions
Where can you actually watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
The public stretches are Central Park West between roughly the sixties and the mid seventies, and Sixth Avenue from the high fifties down to about Forty Second Street. Central Park West is the better of the two. There is no public viewing at Herald Square, where the parade finishes, and the blocks immediately approaching it are closed for the broadcast.
Can you buy tickets or grandstand seats for the parade?
No. The grandstand at Herald Square is not sold to the public through any channel, at any price. The only paid options are set-price breakfasts at restaurants and hotels along the route, which book out months ahead and cost several hundred dollars a head. Standing on the public stretches costs nothing.
What time should you arrive to get a good spot?
People begin claiming positions on Central Park West before six in the morning, several hours before the parade steps off. Arriving at that hour gets you the barrier. Turning up an hour or so before the start gets you a second or third row, which is fine for the balloons and poor for everything at street level.
What is the balloon inflation and can anyone go?
The afternoon before the parade, the giant balloons are laid out and filled on the streets around the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side, and the public can walk the route past them. It is free, it runs through the afternoon into the evening, and it lets you see the balloons at arm’s length rather than three storeys up. Many people rate it above the parade itself.
Why is this year the hundredth parade rather than a later number?
The first parade was held in 1924, but it was cancelled for three years during the Second World War when the helium and rubber were needed elsewhere. That gap is why the count of parades runs two behind the count of years since it began.
Do the balloons always fly?
Not necessarily. City rules ground the giant balloons or fly them at reduced height if sustained winds or gusts exceed set limits, and that call is made on the morning. The parade goes ahead either way, with the floats, bands and performers unaffected, but a windy Thanksgiving can mean the balloons stay low or stay down.
Sources
- NBC, the parade’s broadcast partner
- NYC Tourism, the city’s official visitor board
- American Museum of Natural History, beside the inflation site
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.