
Ring in the holiday season with the nationally televised Chicago Thanksgiving Parade on Pluto TV, ranked the second-best Thanksgiving Parade in the country by Time Out Magazine! Be the center of the excitement as talented marching bands, majestic equestrian units, national celebrities, and spectacular performance groups march through downtown Chicago.
The parade starts at 8:00 AM on Thanksgiving Day, traveling on State Street from Ida B. Wells Drive to Randolph in downtown Chicago. Over 400,000 spectators fill the one-mile route, while others secure a front row seat as a VIP to watch the parade from the TV Zone! Around the world, millions are watching the live televised broadcast from their home or on a streaming device.
Band directors that want to give their group a chance to perform in one of the country's greatest cities during the holiday season are invited to
submit an application.
• Abilene High School, Abilene, Kansas
• Back of the Yards College Prep, Chicago, Illinois
• Bishop Noll Institute, Hammond, Indiana
• Bloom Township District 206, Chicago Heights, Illinois
• Bremen High School, Midlothian, Illinois
• Carson High School, Carson City, Nevada
• Heartbeat Music & Performing Arts, San Diego, California
• Kankakee High School, Kankakee, Illinois
• Kelly College Prep, Chicago, Illinois
• King's Fork High School, Suffolk, Virginia
• Marist High School, Chicago, Illinois
• Odessa High School, Odessa, Missouri
• Orange High School, Pepper Pike, Ohio
• Proviso East High School, Maywood, Illinois
• Riverdale High School, Riverdale, Georgia
• Shawnee High School, Springfield, Ohio
• Southland College Prep, Richton Park, Illinois
• Thornwood Marching Thunderbirds, South Holland, Illinois
• Urban Renewal, Nassau, Bahamas
• Woodland High School, Cartersville, Georgia
Apply today for your band to secure one of the few remaining spots for 2025!
2023 Participating Bands
• Arcadia High School, Arcadia, California
• Battery Creek High School, Beaufort, South Carolina
• Bedford High School, Temperance, Michigan
• Bishop Noll Institute, Hammond, Indiana
• Bloom Township High School, Chicago Heights, Illinois
• Horace Mann Academy, Chicago, Illinois
• Thomas Kelly College Preparatory, Chicago, Illinois
• Marist High School, Chicago, Illinois
• Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mankato, Minnesota
• Portage High School, Portage, Wisconsin
• Riverside Brookfield High School, Riverside, Illinois
• Southland College Prep Charter High School, Richton Park, Illinois
• Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee
• Thornwood High School, South Holland, Illinois
• Thorton Fraction North High School, Calumet City, Illinois
Bands participating in the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade often enjoy all that Chicago has to offer. Some activities that bands include on their itineraries are:
• Band Bash the night before the Parade
• World renown museums and cultural institutions
• Dinner cruise on Lake Michigan
• Theater performances
• Amazing restaurants
• Sightseeing; Willis Tower, John Hancock observation decks
• Shopping on the Magnificent Mile (Michigan Avenue)