Everyone's favorite parade balloons are getting inflated Wednesday afternoon on the Upper West Side.
Macy's Balloon Inflation Celebration is taking place 12 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Sixteen featured helium balloons and 32 novelty and heritage balloons will be prepped for their big flight on Thanksgiving Day.
The public can only enter the event at 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue.
When the public is exiting the balloon inflation area, they'll be able to see the float assembly taking place between 81st and 86th Streets.
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Featured balloons on 77th Street
- Beagle Scout Snoopy (NEW)
- Smokey Bear
- Diary of A Wimpy Kid
- Bluey & Keepy Uppy Balloon
- Blue Cat & Chugs (NEW)
- Baby Shark
- Spongebob SquarePants & Gary
- HF Sinclair’s Baby Dino Ballonicles
- HF Sinclair’s Dino
- Leo
- Goku
Featured balloons on 81st Street
- Go Bowling™ Balloonicles
- Ronald McDonald
- Chase from PAW Patrol
- Stuart the Minion
- Uncle Dan (NEW)
- Funko Pop! inspired Grogu
- Monkey D. Luffy (NEW)
- Kung Fu Panda’s Po (NEW)
- Red Titan
- Pillsbury Doughboy(NEW)
- Pikachu™ & Eevee
All guests will be subject to security screening by the NYPD.
How do I get to the balloon inflation?
Nearby subway stations include 72nd Street/Central Park West serving the A, B, and C trains, and the 72nd Street/Broadway station serving the 1, 2, and 3 trains. The M72 bus has a stop near the parade balloon inflation public entry.
The LIRR is operating on a normal weekday schedule.
Metro-North's New Haven Line is running on a Friday schedule, but all other lines are on a regular weekday schedule.
Where can I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?
The parade will air live on NBC New York and be simulcast on Peacock. A Spanish simulcast is available on Telemundo 47 New York.
The parade coverage this year will be hosted on NBC by TODAY's Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker. The Spanish simulcast will be hosted by Telemundo's Carlos Adyan and Andrea Meza.
More details on how to watch the parade are here.
If I missed the parade live, will it re-air?
An encore airing of the parade will run at 2 p.m. on NBC (following the National Dog Show).
