If you stop and think about it, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a rather funny holiday tradition. It's the one time of year when the Pillsbury Doughboy, Hello Kitty, and Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger share equal screen time and the skies above Central Park West.
Incidentally, it's also a day when anyone who dislikes clowns should steer clear of midtown New York since no fewer than 33 clown groups, including breakfast clowns, viking clowns, and "aarsome pirate" clowns, will take to the streets.
Still, the parade is a Thanksgiving Day trademark in New York and around the country, and it's almost as closely associated with turkey as pumpkin pie. Can you really have Thanksgiving without the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? Well, you could, but you'd miss out on seasonally themed performances from Gwen Stefani, Bebe Rexha, Andra Day, and, for all you 90s kids, boy band 98 Degrees. (They'll probably sing something from their comeback holiday album, but a girl can dream they'll decide to break out the classic "Because Of You" instead.)
Last year was the first year NBC allowed viewers to stream the parade, and thankfully, it's doing so again for 2017. If your family hasn't cut the cord yet, tune in to NBC at 9 a.m. to watch the action kick off. You can also watch online at NBC New York or on the NBC 4 New York app. If you want a different view of the parade, head to YouTube at 9 a.m. where Verizon's 360-degree livestream will let you choose where you want to look by moving your mouse onscreen.
Come for the giant balloons, but stick around to see Broadway performances from Anastasia and Dear Evan Hansen. Then, tune in to Purina's annual National Dog Show to see which pup takes home the crown for best in show.