Hey everyone, it’s Intern Krystal! This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. There’s Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday to look forward to. Most importantly, one of my favorite holiday traditions takes place on Thursday morning: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Every year, I set my alarm to wake me up bright and early so I don’t miss a single minute of the festivities. As this year’s parade approaches, I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the most iconic floats and performances by our BLI favorites from past years.
Rihanna (2005)
In 2005, Rihanna performed her hit single “Pon de Replay” at the 79th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. At the time, the pop sensation was 17 years old. She performed on the “Krazy Kritters” float, which was named after the Dixie Krazy Kritters product-line produced by Georgia-Pacific.
Jonas Brothers (2006, 2007)
In 2006, the Jonas Brothers performed “Year 3000″ from their debut album It’s About Time. Nick, Kevin, and Joe rode on the “Starship Discovery” float.
The band returned for their second appearance at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2007 to sing “S.O.S” on Build-A-Bear Workshop’s “The International Cele-Bear-Ation Clock Tower” float.
Miley Cyrus (2006, 2008)
Also in 2006, Miley Cyrus made an appearance as Hannah Montana at the 80th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Rewatching her performance brings all the nostalgic feels as she sings “The Best of Both Worlds” on the “Teddy Bear’s Workshop” float, created by Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Miley returned in 2008 to sing “I Thought I Lost You,” her song from Disney’s animated movie Bolt. Bolt was released just a few days before Thanksgiving that year, and the movie had its own themed float in the 82nd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Ariana Grande (2013)
In 2013, Ariana Grande performed her holiday hit “Last Christmas” live from the “Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure” float. At the time, Ariana was 20 years old and starring in Nickelodeon’s sitcoms Victorious and Sam & Cat.
Sabrina Carpenter (2014, 2017)
In 2014, the Short N’ Sweet pop star performed “The Middle of Starting Over” from her first EP. Sabrina was fifteen years old at the time of the 88th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She sang on the “Treasure Hunt” float, which was sponsored by Pirate’s Booty.
In 2017, Sabrina returned to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the “Discover Adventure!” float by Build-A-Bear Workshop. She performed her single “Why”, which had been released the previous summer.
Shawn Mendes (2015)
At the time, seventeen-year-old Shawn Mendes performed his first huge hit, “Stitches”, at the 89th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Just like Sabrina, Shawn performed on Pirate’s Booty’s “Treasure Hunt” float. The Canadian singer was interviewed after his performance, where he expressed his holiday wishes to his fans and even wrote lyrics on the spot about his admiration for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Mariah Carey (2022)
The unofficial “Queen of Christmas” appeared at the 96th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to perform her hit holiday classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Her performance marked one of the most memorable moments of the parade: Santa Claus’s float as the finale. Fun fact: For the first three years of the Macy’s Parade, it was originally called the “Annual Macy’s Christmas Parade.”
This year will mark the 98th anniversary of the Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and there will be appearances by 22 balloons, 34 floats, 11 marching bands, 28 performers, and 11 performance groups. Some of the performances I am looking forward to this year are from Dasha, Kylie Cantrall, Kylie Minogue, Charli D’Amelio and Jimmy Fallon & The Roots. Which performance are you looking forward to the most?