As much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey and football, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will take over the streets of New York City this Thursday, featuring marching bands, the Radio City Rockettes, elaborate floats, famous musicians, and, of course, Santa Claus.

However, one spectacle that has been around since the fourth Macy’s parade in 1927 stands out—the colossal character balloons. Crafted in-house by talented artists and engineers at Macy’s Studio, this year’s roster of balloons showcases a blend of beloved and contemporary figures from pop culture and entertainment, with some giant balloons measuring even longer than a pair of school buses.

“We aim to strike a balance between classic characters and exciting new ones that resonate with our younger viewers,” explained Will Coss, executive producer at Macy’s Studio. “We like to say our audience ranges from ages 1 to 100, and we strive to have something in our balloon lineup for everyone.”

New Balloons in This Year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

This year’s parade will introduce six new characters among the 17 total balloons, including the long-awaited introduction of Minnie Mouse and a revamped version of Spider-Man.

Previous parades have featured balloons of characters like Mickey Mouse, Uncle Sam, Underdog, Dora the Explorer, and Kermit the Frog. The selection process for which characters receive giant balloon representation involves discussions within Macy’s and collaborations with the studios and agencies that hold rights to these characters.

“Macy’s has a strong tradition of balancing iconic characters with introducing new personalities that have proven to be popular,” noted Coss.

Dimensions of the Macy’s Parade Balloons

The size and shape of the balloons vary according to the character and their pose. This year’s Minnie Mouse balloon stands 60 feet tall, approximately the height of a five-story building, and is 34 feet wide, about the width of five taxis. Spider-Man is even larger, at 77.5 feet from front to back—almost the same length as two New York City buses.

This will mark the third version of the Spider-Man balloon in the parade’s history; prior versions were seen from 1987 to 1998 and again from 2009 to 2014.

Among the largest balloons to appear in the parade was the third Superman balloon, measuring 104 feet long, created by Goodyear, which made its debut in 1980 and flew for eight seasons until 1987.

The Production Process Behind Macy’s Parade Balloons

Creating a character balloon, from the initial design to its final test flight on Balloon Day, can take anywhere from six to eight months and may involve up to 30 people. The floats that also participate in the parade follow a similar production timeline.

For the Spider-Man balloon this year, the design phase kicked off in late January and continued until early May, after which production and assembly began. The balloon underwent its first test flight in September.

During the design stage, artists explore various poses and styles for the balloon character, focusing on ensuring the balloon’s aerodynamics and easy handling by the crew.

Once the sketches are finalized, the balloon and engineering department examines the designs to confirm that the character can function as a balloon.

“Our engineering team evaluates aspects that need to be adapted for a balloon,” Coss noted. “We strive to stay true to the character, but with balloons that can be 60 to 70 feet tall soaring in the sky, they must be aerodynamically designed to handle the conditions.”

After all adjustments are made and approved, the studio creates a 24 to 30-inch 3D “white model” of the balloon, which is essential for crafting the full-size patterns. Once these patterns are made, they are laid flat and printed digitally. Similar to assembling a massive quilt, the sections of durable fabric—comprising the outer surface and the internal walls that house helium pockets—are meticulously stitched together by hand and assembled into the complete balloon.

Following assembly, artists finalize the balloon’s look by adding character details, shading, and other intricate features. The balloon is then prepared for a series of indoor and outdoor tests, including inflation and deflation evaluations.

When fully deflated, an average character balloon weighs between 500 and 700 pounds, roughly equivalent to the weight of a baby grand piano; the Spider-Man balloon weighs approximately 640 pounds when deflated.

The principle behind the balloons’ ability to lift heavy weight is similar to a small helium birthday balloon: utilizing significantly more helium (large balloons can contain over 10,000 cubic feet of it). Helium’s lighter-than-air quality allows the filled balloons to displace heavier air, resulting in lift. A team of handlers on the ground manages the balloon using tethers.

During the parade, the handlers dress up in costumes that reflect the theme of the balloon they are managing. For example, those handling the Spider-Man balloon will don specially designed tabards that look like Spider-Man’s torso and hats knitted to represent his face.

The Spider-Man balloon is supported by 61 handling lines and will require almost 100 handlers on Thanksgiving Day. This arrangement allows them to rotate and rest as necessary.

What is the parade’s route?

On the Wednesday before the parade, teams will begin inflating and setting up the balloons in the area between 81st and 77th streets, adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History. The parade will kick off on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m., following a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It will travel a distance of 2.5 miles, proceeding south through Central Park, turning east on 59th Street, and then heading down 6th Avenue. Eventually, the route will lead south to 34th Street, where the parade takes a final turn west for a performance broadcast live on NBC in front of the iconic Macy’s entrance.

“Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the only event where you can see 60 to 70-foot balloons floating down the streets and into the canyons formed by New York City’s skyscrapers, capturing the excitement of a crowd of three and a half million people,” explained Coss, who is gearing up for his fourth parade. “It’s a unique experience to shut down a section of New York City and have these magnificent characters parade through the heart of Manhattan.”

This year’s parade commemorates the 100-year anniversary since it first took place, although it is officially the 98th parade. The event was suspended between 1942 and 1944 due to World War II, as materials like the rubber used for the balloons were repurposed for military needs.