The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a nearly century-old New York institution, will be sidelined from its usual live format due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, officials said Monday.
The department store announced that it had to “reimagine” the upcoming 94th edition of the parade on Nov. 26 and said it’ll be staged in a manner similar to its Fourth of July fireworks show.
“Following our successful, safe and innovative production of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks, it is our intention to similarly reimagine Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this November,” the retail giant said in a statement.
This year’s Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks show staged and recorded several small displays across the five boroughs in the days leading up to Independence Day show on NBC. Each display lasted just five minutes to avoid drawing crowds.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Macy’s would stage a virtual, made-for-TV parade. The event, which marks the kickoff of the Christmas shopping season, is televised by NBC.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said a live, mass gathering is still impossible with coronavirus in play.
“It will not be the same parade we’re used to,” he told reporters during his daily coronavirus briefing.
“(Macy’s) is reinventing the event for this moment in history. And you will be able to feel the spirit and the joy of that day on television, online — not a live parade, but something that will really give us that warmth and that great feeling we have on Thanksgiving Day.”
The mayor said he hopes the parade will be a live, mass event in 2021.
“We’ll keep going forward and then next year, again, I look forward to things coming back in all their greatness so we can enjoy them together in person again,” de Blasio said.
The annual Thanksgiving Day march is usually marked by massive balloons, marching bands, musical acts and traditional floats.
