On Thursday, the 23rd Julia Pearce (10), Participated in the Thanksgiving Macy’s Day Parade in New York City. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, started in 1924, was originally a Christmas parade. However, inspired by Gimbel’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held in Philadelphia 1920, the Macy’s Christmas Parade became the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Some of the balloons you see featured in today’s parade, such as Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse, have been around since 1927. While many aspects of the parade, from the route of the parade to the very name, have changed over time, one thing stays the same; the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a yearly tradition that brings families together and provides enjoyable Thanksgiving morning entertainment.
Lyn Devlin (11) watches the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade every year with their whole family. This has been a tradition since before Devlin can remember. When asked how this tradition started Devlin stated, “my great grandpa used to be one of the balloon holders because he used to work for Macy’s.” Out of the whole parade, Devlin said their favorite part of the parade was the debut of the new Baby Shark float.
Julia Pearce is currently a sophomore at Hidden Valley High School and is a member of the marching band, symphonic band, and jazz band. Pearce was part of the Macy’s Great American Marching Band in the parade, she had to submit multiple audition videos to get this position. Pearce stated that she wasn’t nervous for the filmed portion of the parade because “by the time we had reached Herald Square (the area for the TV performance) the band had already marched three miles throughout NYC, but I was excited enough that I did not notice any physical exhaustion.” The band performed well during the parade and Pearce said she loved the whole experience. Pearce said she has watched the parade since she was a kid and she loved “getting to be a part of something I had watched since I was little, it felt very surreal.” Overall, this was an incredible experience for Julia Pearce and the tradition of watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade continues.