Everything you need to know to watch the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
This year is set to be the biggest parade ever filled with more balloons and stars than ever before.
The holiday season is filled with time-honored traditions, and one of the most sacred happens on the streets of New York City every year on Thanksgiving morning. On Thursday, Nov. 28, the 98th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will begin on the Upper West Side and make its way down to Herald Square with floats, balloons, performances, and more delighting fans on the streets and across the country. The event will kick off at 8:30 a.m. ET on NBC with Jolly Old St. Nicholas wrapping up the parade at 12 noon ET. When it comes to watching the parade, as well as all of the other holiday programming on network and cable TV this season, I recommend you stream it all with a subscription to Sling TV.
How to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
- When: Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. ET
- TV: NBC
- Stream: Watch with a subscription to Sling TV.
Everything you need to know about the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade:
Watch a preview of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Why we recommend Sling TV to stream the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
From now until the end of the year, there are tons of holiday specials, movies, events, and more on TV. So, if you are excited to watch the Thanksgiving Parade, chances are that you will also want to catch the tree lightings, the claymation classics, the holiday specials, the feel-good Christmas rom-coms, and more. If that’s the case, then Sling is the way to go. It is the cheapest way to get national broadcast channels and the biggest cable networks as well.
Normally, Sling costs $40 per month, but you can currently get 50% off your first month of service, meaning that you can watch all of the best holiday programming on TV for as little as $20. Sling has two different base packages, Orange and Blue. You can subscribe to one or both. If you do opt to combine Orange and Blue it will run you $55 monthly — still substantially cheaper than the comparable live TV streaming services — but with the first-month deal, you can stream everything on both packages for just $27.50.
Related: Deck the Halls and Stream All of the Holiday Rom-Com Shows, Movies This Season!
The one major downside of Sling TV is that neither the Orange or Blue package carries CBS. If you don’t want to miss the holiday programming on the channel, you can always add a subscription to Paramount+ and go with the Paramount+ With Showtime tier. That costs $13 monthly but will give you access to your local CBS affiliate around the clock. And, even if you combine the Orange and Blue packages, you’re still only paying $40.50 for all of the holiday specials your heart desires.
Can you stream the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for free?
If you are just looking for a streaming service to watch the parade and nothing else, there are options available for you. DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, and YouTube TV all offer free trials, but they vary in length, so be wary. DIRECTV STREAM’s industry-leading trial runs for five days, while Hulu + Live TV’s is a solid three days.
Those are pretty straightforward, but when it comes to the sports-minded streamer Fubo, things can get a little complicated. As The Streamable’s expert David Satin discovered when signing up for the services, figuring out how long Fubo’s trial is — even as you are signing up — can be a bit difficult. Nonetheless, it will be at least one day, with the potential to be as many as seven, depending on a wide range of factors that Fubo does not share publicly.
The YouTube TV trial is said to be “up to two weeks,” but can be as short as two days. So it is difficult to ascertain what you are actually getting before you go through the signup process.
If you are looking to watch the parade for free, I would recommend DIRECTV STREAM, because that streamer has the longest guaranteed free trial.
What are all of the streamers you can use to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Fortunately for holiday revelers of all kinds, there are seven different streaming services that will stream the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, so you have options to choose from if you don’t already subscribe to any of them. We discussed Sling TV and the four free trial options above, but there are others as well.
Perhaps the best remaining option would be to go directly to the source. Since NBC is the exclusive broadcaster for the parade this year, you can sign up for Peacock and watch the parade for as little as $8. The streamer also is home to dozens of Hallmark Channel holiday movies, as well as all of NBC’s holiday content, iconic Christmas movies and holiday episodes, and more.
If you are looking to find a long-term streaming service and want to avoid the potential of having to pay more if price hikes strike, then DIRECTV via Internet is your best bet. Packages start as low as $70 per month and come with a two-year price guarantee. This, of course, locks you into a two-year contract, but with prices increasing fairly regularly, it is understandable why this would be an attractive offer to many people.
Ultimately, there are tons of different ways to stream the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and while we recommend Sling TV as the best way to stream all of the holiday programming on TV this season, you have plenty of options to find the platform that meets your needs.
About the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
The 98th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will officially get underway on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and then make its way through Midtown before wrapping up in front of Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street in Herald Square.
As the parade approaches its centennial, this year it is set to be its biggest ever. There will be more than 5,000 volunteers, 17 massive character balloons, 22 floats, 15 heritage and novelty balloons, over 700 clowns, 11 marching bands, 10 performance groups, and some of today’s biggest music stars in the world.
“The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is second to none when it comes to world-class entertainment during the holiday season,” NBCUniversal EVP Jen Neal said. “It’s truly an honor to bring such an iconic event to our viewers year after year and partake in one of the country’s most beloved traditions.”
The parade will be hosted by “Today” favorites Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Al Roker. And, if the 8:30 a.m. ET kickoff time is too early for you, not only can you watch the parade on-demand, but NBC will air an encore presentation at 2 p.m. ET.
How to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from anywhere
If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the parade as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming service or Peacock in order to stream the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with a VPN.
NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!
While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.
- Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
- Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
- Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available
Who will be performing at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
As always, the 98th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be jam-packed with stars, including performances by some of the biggest names in entertainment. Alison Brie will cut the ribbon to officially get this year’s parade underway. Then, you will see performances from Bishop Briggs, Kylie Cantrall, Chlöe, Dan + Shay, Dasha, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots, Coco Jones, Walker Hayes, Jennifer Hudson, Loud Luxury, Ariana Madix, Joey McIntyre, Idina Menzel, Kylie Minogue, Natti Natasha, T-Pain, Rachel Platten, Billy Porter, Lea Salonga, The Temptations, The War and Treaty, Alex Warren, and Sebastián Yatra.
As always, the parade broadcast will feature performances from some of the most exciting musicals currently on Broadway. This year, that means you will see the casts of “Death Becomes Her,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” and “The Outsiders” perform in Herald Square, along with the iconic Radio City Rockettes.
Additionally, dancers Charli D’Amelio, Tiler Peck, and Roman Mejia will perform. The star of the biggest movie in the world “Wicked” Cynthia Erivo and the star and creator of Broadway hit “Oh, Mary!” Cole Escola will both be on hand as well.
Also making appearances will be Jonathan Bennett, Liza Colón-Zayas, Tom Kenny, and Ginna Claire Mason, along with members of WNBA Champions New York Liberty with the most beloved mascot in the country, Ellie the Elephant. And, of course, the most anticipated star at the parade every year is the man who concludes the festivities, the one, the only Santa Claus.
Can you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS?
Unfortunately, this year, you cannot. CBS has been airing its own broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for years, but opted to let NBC go solo this year. That is a disappointment for a lot of fans, especially those who enjoyed the additional Broadway performances that CBS featured that don’t air as part of the NBC telecast.
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $40/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $40/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $55 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.