The 97th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a cherished tradition in the United States, took place in New York City, starting near Central Park West and West 77th, and ending at the Macy's flagship store on 34th Street. The event was marked by a lineup of national musical acts, including Cher, Jon Batiste, Bell Biv DeVoe, Brandy, Chicago, En Vogue, ENHYPEN, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, Jessie James Decker, Ashley Park with some Muppets from Sesame Street, Pentatonix, Paul Russell, Amanda Shaw and Alex Smith, and Manuel Turizo.
The parade featured a variety of attractions, including 26 floats, 32 novelty and heritage inflatables, 12 marching bands, and 700 clowns. New balloons modeled after popular characters such as Snoopy, Monkey D. Luffy, Po, and a reimagined Pillsbury Doughboy were introduced. The event also saw the participation of U.S. Olympic gymnastics silver medalist Jordan Chiles, U.S. track and field Paralympian Ezra Frech, U.S. Paralympic swimming gold medalist Jessica Long, and Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke.
The parade was a significant success, attracting a record viewership of over 28.5 million people across all platforms, marking the highest viewership ever for the event. This figure includes live viewing of the extended telecast, an afternoon encore, and streaming on Peacock. The parade's viewership was up 6% from 2022 in both total viewers and the 18-49 demographic. The live linear telecast of the parade alone drew 22.3 million viewers. Peacock's contribution to the viewership was significant, with more than double the streaming hours from last year's parade.