The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is back for another year, and the stars are celebrating.
The 98th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returned on a rainy Thursday for the annual holiday event on the streets of New York City. Continuing at its new start time at 8:30 a.m. ET, 30 minutes earlier than in some previous years, the parade features fan-favorite balloons like the Pillsbury Doughboy and Bluey as well as new balloons like Minnie Mouse and Spider-Man.
Billy Porter opened the show with a lively rendition of “Ease on Down the Road” from the musical “The Wiz,” before “Today” show anchors and parade hosts Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker kicked off the balloon and float festivities. The start of the parade teased performances and appearances from Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo and T-Pain.
“Rain or shine, you have to get out there,” said Jimmy Fallon, joining the “Today” anchors from the parade route and rocking sunglasses despite the dreary day. “It is the best holiday. … It’s raining but everyone is still out here cheering!”
Stay tuned for details about all of the performances and celebrity appearances:
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Jennifer Hudson channeled her inner holiday diva for her performance closing out the parade and ushering in the start of the Christmas season.
“You ain’t heard no ‘Jingle Bells’ like this,” she teased at the start of her performance. Decked in a sparkling red sequin, feather-lined gown, the singer and talk show host showcased her powerhouse vocals for “Jingle Bells” and “Let There Be Joy,” off of her debut Christmas album “The Gift of Love.”
Dancers in suits (including one who held a red umbrella above her head as she performed, rain still coming down) and a full band accompanied Hudson as she belted out her Christmas hits, before the broadcast tossed back to Kotb, Guthrie and Roker along with “Wicked” star Erivo to help introduce Santa Claus himself and conclude the parade.
“And here is the man himself!” Kotb said as Santa made his grand entrance. Santa had a special guest: Emmy winner Liza Colón-Zayas joined him as Mrs. Claus, joyously waving to the onlookers at the parade.
Kylie Minogue donned a red and black moto jumpsuit (with complementary dancers and a matching umbrella) for a performance of her slinky track “Padam Padam” that led into her biggest hit, the early aughts’ “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.”
“Even in the rain, let’s go!” she encouraged, as Kotb, Guthrie and Roker did their best dance moves in the studio, with Erivo waiting in the wings for her segment.
“By the way, we were all dancing with Kylie Minogue, so now we have performed with Cynthia Erivo,” Guthrie joked.
“Wicked” star Erivo joined Kotb, Guthrie and Roker to talk about the new musical movie and ring in the holiday. But before their conversation, Erivo took the time to give Kotb her flowers – literally.
“These flowers are for you because I know this is the last Thanksgiving parade that you’re doing,” Erivo said as she handed a large white bouquet to Kotb. The “Today” show co-anchor announced her exit from the show earlier this year; her last day will be in January, and “Today Third Hour” host Craig Melvin is set to step into her role.
“Thank you for thinking of me on this day,” Kotb later said.
As for “Wicked,” Erivo said, “This is such a wonderful thing to be able to share with everyone. We’ve been keeping it to ourselves, and now everyone can watch it. I’m so pleased. I’m so overwhelmed by the wonderful reactions we’ve been getting.”
And Erivo is a proponent of fans being able to sing along to the movie musical’s songs in the theater, as some cinemas have clamped down on singing, face paint and more.
“Good!” she said. “I’m OK with it. We spent this long singing it ourselves, it’s time for everyone to sing.”
“This has been a dream come true to be able to share this with my family and friends,” Erivo said. “It’s been a wild ride, but everyone has been so glorious and so gracious with me.”
Cynthia Erivowants fans to sing along to ‘Wicked’ at the movies
“Wicked” star Idina Menzel joined the Bronx Zoo float for a soaring rendition of “Great Escape” from her new musical “Redwood,” set to hit Broadway in 2025. The Tony winner’s vocal performance was accompanied by dancers on stilts as all types of zoo animals.
Porter opened the show with a lively rendition of “Ease on Down the Road” from the musical “The Wiz,” an early nod in the morning’s festivities to “The Wizard of Oz” and the story’s resurgence in the new movie musical and box-office smash “Wicked.”
The “Pose” star donned a monochromatic muted teal ensemble for his performance look, after Alison Brie helped to open and introduce the start of the parade.
Ariana Madix, whose viral “Scandoval” drama on “Vanderpump Rules” propelled her into a starry run on “Dancing with the Stars” and as Roxie Hart in Broadway’s “Chicago,” topped the Peacock float for a cover of “Lovefool” by The Cardigans to pay homage to her acclaimed hosting gig of the latest talker season of “Love Island USA” on the streaming service.
We could listen to Coco Jones “over and over and over again.” The Grammy winner and star of “Bel-Air” took to the parade route for a performance of her song “Here We Go (Uh Oh),” rocking a furry black coat and all-black ensemble.
T-Pain popped up for a medley of his biggest hits, starting off with a snippet of his verse on Ye’s “Good Life,” his single “Buy You a Drink” and the choruses on “Low” by Flo Rida and “All I Do is Win” by DJ Khaled. In a forest green, fur-lined coat and matching dark green hat, the performance was an “energy jolt,” as Kotb jollily put it following the performance.
Chloë donned a long white coat and fuzzy Pamela Anderson-esque hat for her performance, showing off her choreography and vocals for her fun and upbeat track “Boy Boy.”
Broadway legend Lea Salonga joined the cast of “Sesame Street” with Elmo, Big Bird and the crew for a performance of “Sing.”
“Sing of good things not bad // sing of happy not sad,” they all sang along together.
War hopped on the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” float to perform ahead of the 40th anniversary of their classic “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre went pastel on the Brach’s candy float, sharing his new song “A Brand New Christmas” from his “Jingle Bell Love” film on Roku.
Jimmy Fallon and the Roots got funky with the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-themed track “Hey Rudy,” rolling down the parade route on a train float.
And not long before Santa’s appearance at the end of the parade, singer Sebastián Yatra joined a Christmas-themed float to perform a Spanglish rendition of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.”
The husband and wife duo The War and Treaty belted out their rendition of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
But before they got to perform, they had to work through some temporary technical difficulties. As Kotb, Guthrie and Roker tee-ed up the performance, silence met the singing couple as they waved to the audience, waiting for the music to start. The broadcast tossed back over to the NBC hosts, who acknowledged the tech issue and talked about the character balloons before heading to commercial break. Upon return, the music began and The War and Treaty treated onlookers to the holiday cheer in their song.
The Temptations brought their hit song, “My Girl” (which Kotb and Guthrie said has been streamed more than 1 billion times), to the parade route. Otis Williams, one of the founders of the Motown group, is the last surviving member of the original group; current members include Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Tony Grant and Jawan M. Jackson.
The cast of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” Broadway show performed “The Gospel” from the stage musical and the show’s version of “Empire State of Mind,” the singer’s rousing New York anthem with Jay-Z. (And in a very New York moment later in the parade, the WNBA champions the New York Liberty and their viral mascot Ellie the Elephant danced through the parade with tunes courtesy of Loud Luxury.)
Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child fame is the star of Broadway’s newest musical, “Death Becomes Her,” based on the popular movie. The singer and the cast hit the parade route for a performance of “If You Want Perfection,” singing the song’s prescient lyrics, “For those who pay the price, what would you sacrifice?”
The cast of “The Outsiders,” based on S.E. Hinton’s famed book and the film adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola,” performed “Tulsa ’67” from the Broadway rendition of the coming-of-age story about Ponyboy Curtis and rival gangs in Oklahoma in the 1960s.
Although it’s Thursday, the parade got a Wednesday appearance. The float showcasing Wednesday Addams (of “The Addams Family” and “Wednesday” fame) featured Bishop Briggs, in an all-black ensemble, leather coat and signature Wednesday pigtail braids, delivering an eerie rendition of Rolling Stones’ “Paint It, Black.”
Country singer Dasha kicked off the country contingent of the parade with her twangy hit song “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’).” She joined the Big City Cheer float at the midpoint of the parade, just before singer Alex Warren hit the parade route to sing his 2024 song “Carry You Home.”
Is it Christmas without a Hallmark movie – or float? Grammy-winning country duo Dan + Shay united for the upbeat holiday ballad “It’s Officially Christmas,” joining Hallmark “Finding Mr. Christmas” star Jonathan Bennett on the float.
Natti Natasha joined the La Fuerza Dance Company on the “Dora the Explorer” float, donning a cozy and chic fur coat and matching hat for her bachata hit song.
On the Rao’s float, Rachel Platten shared an energetic rendition of “Set Me Free” and her hit “Fight Song.”
Fancy like performing on the Jolly Green Giant float? Country star Walker Hayes joined a group of veggie dancers to sing his catchy song “Fancy Like.”
“Descendants” star Kylie Cantrall provided a high-energy performance of “Red Christmas,” rocking a furry, futuristic ensemble in – what else? – a deep red shade.
Billy Porter and Erivo are just some of the stars set to help ring in the holiday.
Here are all the celebrities scheduled to make float appearances during the parade’s broadcast:
This article was updated to add a new video.