Every Thanksgiving Day in New York Metropolis since 1924, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the largest occasion on the calendar.
It’s solely been cancelled thrice in its 95 12 months historical past, as a consequence of helium shortages in the course of the WWII years. And in 2021 with Covid altering all kinds of occasions the world over.
Test the route and greatest locations to face on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade web site >
What’s Thanksgiving Day really celebrating?
For my non-US readers, Thanksgiving Day falls on the fourth Thursday in November and also you’d be forgiven for pondering it’s all about stuffing one’s face with turkey and inexperienced bean casserole (get my recipe right here >>) and watching soccer from the vantage level of the sofa all afternoon.
However giving due to God for the harvest, that’s what Thanksgiving is actually about – ever for the reason that pilgrims first came to visit from Britain to America and harvested their first crops.
In November of 1621, the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians from southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, and thus the custom of Thanksgiving started.
And by the way in which, a New England highway journey within the fall is just magical. (Bookmark this publish for subsequent 12 months!)
Thanksgiving can be well-known for the three-hour reside TV protection of the parade in NYC with a whole lot of floats, helium balloons, marching bands and the occasional celebrity in search of a little bit of nationwide protection.
Most blogs in regards to the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York Metropolis concentrate on the occasion itself, however this publish covers all of the humorous and terrifying balloon accidents over time!
Initially the Macy’s Parade was a Christmas parade with Santa enthroned on Macy’s balcony on thirty fourth Road. And I’ve now added this nice publish on the best way to do Christmas in New York, in the event you’re going to be within the Massive Apple for this most magical time of the 12 months!
However the monumental helium balloons first appeared in 1927 and have been the parade’s hallmark ever since, now involving round 8000 handlers, wranglers, marching bands and floats in entrance of a crowd of over three million – and thousands and thousands extra who watch on TV.
The evening earlier than the parade can be an occasion in itself that you need to get to in the event you’re on the town: the filling of those monstrosities with helium simply off Central Park and holding them down underneath netting till their flight the subsequent day.
In 2023 Leo the Lizard debuted at practically 13m tall. Balloons this dimension price as much as $500,000 simply to fill them with helium!
And when Thanksgiving day dawns one can solely think about how onerous it’s for the “balloon wranglers”, as much as 30 for one balloon, to manage these beasts ought to the climate flip inclement.
And sure, over time there have been a number of Thanksgiving day balloon disasters. Scroll on right down to see video of Barney’s demise!
Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons which have run amok!
1927: Felix the Cat was the primary one to make an look within the parade – however he caught hearth after tangling with phone wires.
1957: Popeye the Sailor’s hat full of water throughout a heavy downpour of rain, which threw him off-course and poured 50 gallons of water on an unsuspecting and sad crowd.
1985: Kermit the Frog skilled a nasty abdomen harm and collapsed to the bottom in a heap.
1986: Raggedy Ann crashed right into a lamppost and despatched it into the road. The identical 12 months, Superman had his hand torn off by a tree. Neither incident induced any accidents to people.
1993: Sonic the Hedgehog crashed right into a lamppost at Columbus Circle and broke an off-duty police officer’s shoulder.
1994: Barney tore his facet on a lamppost and needed to be faraway from the parade with the assistance of knife-wielding officers, crying youngsters and cheering adults.
1995: Dudley the Dragon, who was main the parade, was speared and deflated on a lamppost and showered glass on the group beneath.
1997: That is the worst balloon catastrophe I discovered. Excessive winds pushed the Cat within the Hat right into a lamppost. The falling particles struck a parade-goer, fracturing her cranium and left her in a coma for a month. She sued town for $395 million and “settled for an undisclosed sum” in 2001. Measurement guidelines have been subsequently applied in 1998, banning bigger balloons.
Those self same excessive winds additionally induced the New York Police to should stab and stomp down Barney over crowd issues. Additionally they stabbed Pink Panther for a similar motive. I’ve searched Youtube for 2 days looking for footage of the balloon stabbings, alas nothing. (In case you have any please remark!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2wdpXBEgqI
2005: M&M‘s balloon caught on a streetlight in Instances Sq.. Two sisters have been struck by falling particles, struggling damaged enamel and different accidents. The M&M’s balloon was retired after 2006 and changed by a float saluting Broadway theatre and musicals. The sisters acquired a lifetime provide of M&Ms.
2008: a balloon took out the NBC digital camera sales space taking their footage off air. No phrase on “who” was the naughty gas-filled perpetrator.
2011: the Kool Assist child deflated and fell over. A bit like a few of the individuals he purports to help I’m pondering.
2012: Buzz Lightyear ripped his helmet and practically went past infinity, ending up in a river whereas his handler ended up in hospital.
2019: Ronald McDonald needed to be led off the parade with a tear in his leg. The rip had been seen within the morning as he was nonetheless trapped underneath his web, however as Macy’s employees apparently couldn’t discover tape to repair the 3-inch tear, they despatched him on his approach. Nonetheless the tear grew and he started to sag and was taken off for “aesthetic causes”.
On the identical day Nutcracker cracked certainly one of his handlers and knocked her to the bottom. He was allowed to proceed nonetheless.
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