Director of Production Operations for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Kathleen Wright, spoke with AccuWeather about preparations for the iconic parade that has been around for almost 100 years.
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00:00millions of Americans start their holiday with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
00:06Now, this year marks the 100th year of the parade.
00:10Yes, the first one was in 1924.
00:14Oh, so exciting. Kathleen Wright is the director of production operations for the parade.
00:21Thank you so much for joining us. 100 years, that's exciting.
00:26Yes, we're so excited.
00:27We've been marching since 1924, but we're actually celebrating our 98th parade this year.
00:33Our 100th march will be in 2026, but we're still so, so excited.
00:37This is going to be a great parade.
00:38All right. Well, that makes sense. Thank you for informing us of that.
00:41Well, what's new with this year's parade and what should we look for?
00:45This year's parade is so exciting.
00:47We have so many new and fun elements.
00:50We have six new giant character balloons, including Minnie Mouse and Spider-Man.
00:55There's something for everyone.
00:57We have seven new floats in the parade, a beautiful new one by Bronx Zoo,
01:02which is going to feature a performance by Idina Menzel.
01:05There's so many fun performances. We have T-Pain.
01:08We have The Temptations. Like I said, truly something for everyone.
01:12And we cannot wait for everyone to tune in and watch on Thanksgiving morning.
01:16Well, fortunately, there's been good parade weather recently,
01:19but what is the most difficult weather to overcome?
01:23Is it the rain, the snow, or is it the wind?
01:28We are prepared for everything on Thanksgiving morning.
01:31We have different parameters for flying in different wind conditions.
01:34We work very closely with city agencies on how we fly our balloons.
01:39If we do have higher winds on parade morning,
01:41we're able to lower and raise the balloon based on the real-time current wind conditions.
01:46So we keep an eye on those, but the parade does march on rain or shine.
01:51All of our floats are weatherproofed.
01:53They use a special paint and a special hard coating
01:56so that we can make sure that we are still delivering the fun on parade morning.
02:00Wow. So many of those weather details that go into that, and you guys certainly sound prepared.
02:04We've been seeing them on your screen. Massive character balloons.
02:07It's a favorite parade feature.
02:09How did that tradition begin, and how many handlers does it take to control each helium balloon?
02:17Our first balloon was actually in 1927 with Felix the Cat,
02:23and we've continued that tradition since then.
02:25It takes about 5,000 volunteers to produce the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
02:30and help us march on Thanksgiving morning, and 2,000 of them are in our balloon program.
02:36There are 90 balloon handlers on every single giant balloon,
02:41and I think they have the most fun on Thanksgiving morning.
02:45And what are you looking forward to most in this year's parade?
02:52This year's parade is so much fun.
02:54I really do think that we're going to have the best Thanksgiving yet.
02:58I am most excited for the starting line of the parade.
03:01When that confetti pops and we say 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, let's have a parade.
03:06That's my favorite moment, but I think that the marching bands this year are fantastic.
03:11There's just so much fun and energy and excitement in this year's parade,
03:16and I'm excited to see all of it.
03:18You got me excited.
03:19Can't wait to see it myself.
03:20Incredible.
03:21Kathleen Wright, Director of Production Operations for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
03:25What an important job.
03:27Thank you so much for joining us on Accurately Early.
03:30Thanks for having me.