The Macy's Day Parade, the long-held event annual Thanksgiving event in New York City will look a bit different this year.
The 94th annual Macy's Day Parade is still planned to happen –– but it will look a bit different this year. Normally, hosts follow the 2-and-a-half mile parade route but this year, they will be hosting from Macy's flagship store in Herald Square. The route has been shorted to just the last section of the march through Macy's storefront.
The TODAY Show, featuring Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker, will be hosting this year's parade, according to Newsweek.
This year, 18 balloons will be featured ranging from Red Titan from "Ryan's World," the "Boss Baby" character from the animated film, as well as classic characters including Astronaut Snoopy, Ronald McDonald, SpongeBob SquarePants and Pikachu.
People will not be wrangling the balloons this year, but instead, vehicles will be guiding them through the route. Broadway performances from "Hamilton," "Ain't Too Proud," "Mean Girls" and "Jagged Little Pill" will be pre-recorded.
The number of participants will also be reduced to just 75% capacity. On top of that, only people from the Tri-State area are able to participate. Performers and onlookers will be socially distanced with proper face coverings. They have also been administered several COVID-19 screenings leading up to the event.
High school marching bands have also been excluded from this year's event.
"Safety is our No. 1 priority, and we can't do this without people in the city of New York and the state really supporting us and guiding us along the way," the executive producer of the parade, Susan Tercero, told TODAY Show on Friday. "It's been a very interesting year, but our goal is to really deliver a wonderful, safe, entertaining event for everybody on Thanksgiving morning."
Viewers can tune into the three-hour telecast on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST on NBC.
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