11 Surprising Facts About the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons

For millions of Americans, every Thanksgiving begins with Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Ever since the inaugural celebration in New York City on Nov. 27, 1924, viewers have watched Broadway performances, colorful balloons and, of course, the arrival of Santa Claus year after year. The tradition continues to live on, with each parade more extravagant than the last.

The 98th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on NBC on Thursday, Nov. 28, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST and stream live on Peacock. Fans can also attend the event in person and watch the parade along its 2.5 miles of public viewing routes in N.Y.C.

Although watching the parade has been a family custom for decades, there are other things many may not know about the holiday spectacle. In 2016, then-executive parade producer Amy Kule let PEOPLE in on a few interesting tidbits about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.

Here are 11 lesser-known facts — and history — about the parade’s inflatable characters.

The first parade didn’t have balloons

The inaugural parade in 1924 featured live animals, including lions and camels, from the Central Park Zoo. The first-ever “character balloon” was Felix the Cat, who debuted in the 1927 parade.

Creating a balloon is roughly a five-month process

“There are a lot of different stages, and it depends on how intricate a balloon is,” Kule said. “A round one with eyes and mouth is easy, but a Trolls balloon with four characters takes a lot of engineering to bring to life. About five months is the average time.”

Macy’s owns every single balloon

The balloons aren’t rented or outsourced; they’re made by hand in the official Macy’s parade studio in New Jersey.

“We’ve got an incredible studio where we design, build and engineer each of the balloons,” Kule said. “It’s a big beautiful space that allows us to inflate the balloons. It’s also where we build the floats, and it houses all the costumes everyone will wear in the parade. It’s actually a magical space.”

They didn’t use helium at first

The original balloons were supported by poles and weren’t inflated with helium until 1928. In 2016, to celebrate the 90th parade, a replica of the 1927 Felix the Cat balloon walked down the streets supported by handlers holding poles.

A balloon has never broken free — though they used to be set loose

When asked whether any balloons had escaped into the air, Kule said, “That’s a fun fantasy!”

“But they are very well secured,” she added. “We actually used to let them go at the end of the parade, but then we decided we should keep them so we could reuse them. It also became a safety issue. But up until 1931, if you found one in your yard, you could bring the tag to Macy’s and receive a special gift.”

The first female character balloon flew in 1929, but female balloons disappeared from the parade until the 1980s

“The first female was Mrs. Katzenjammer from an old American comic who flew in 1929, but it wasn’t until the ’80s that women flew again when we had Olive Oyl in 1982 and Raggedy Ann in 1984,” Kule said.

Walt Disney himself worked on the first Mickey Mouse balloon

“The first time Mickey flew was in 1934, and we designed him with Walt Disney,” Kule said. “We’ve had four versions of Mickey since.”

Macy’s donated its balloons toward World War II efforts

When World War II began in 1942, a shortage of rubber and helium canceled the annual parade until its conclusion in 1944. Per Daily Mail, Macy’s even gave the government 650 lbs. of rubber from their deflated balloons to assist the effort.

SpongeBob SquarePants is a challenging balloon

“Balloons typically want to be round,” Kule said. “When you have a square balloon, it’s generally difficult because there are so many handling ropes in order to keep the square shape. So we added a Christmas hat last time to give [SpongeBob SquarePants] better lift.”

For each balloon, there are anywhere from 45 to 70 handlers.

Snoopy made way for Charlie Brown in 2016

“Snoopy has been in the parade in seven different forms since 1968, but we haven’t seen Charlie Brown since 2012,” Kule said.

As The Wall Street Journal reported, Charlie Brown replaced Snoopy in 2016 — and he was determined to fly his kite, which was tangled around him. In 2019, a Snoopy balloon in his astronaut costume replaced Charlie Brown.

The balloons may be set free again in the future

“I do hope to let them go up in the air again in 2026 to celebrate the 100th parade!” Kule said.