Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Web: Macys.com

Email: Contact Us

Mail: Macy's Band Selection Committee
11 Penn Plaza, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001

Parade Line: 212-494-4495

If you're interested in entering your band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, click here to access the online Macy's band application. The deadline to apply for the 2025 and 2026 parades is February 1, 2024.

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade kicks off the holidays with unparalleled pomp and pageantry. The scale of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is immense: more than 3.5 million people view the parade live along the parade route, and more than 50 million viewers tune in to the television broadcast. Spectators watch in awe as 10,000 participants — including the nation's best marching bands, performance groups, giant helium balloons, breathtaking floats and the one-and-only Santa Claus — pass before their eyes.

   A day in the life of a Macy's Parade marching band

Each year, top marching bands of all varieties from across the country are invited to represent their states in the annual parade. In addition, the Macy's Great American Marching Band returns to the parade route each November with more than 250 participants representing all 50 states.

Band directors are invited to submit an application along with a video of a field marching performance to the Macy's Band Selection Committee. Applicants are thoroughly reviewed and decisions are made by early May, approximately 18 months in advance of the invited bands' appearance.

• Avon High School Marching Black & Gold, Avon, Indiana
• East Tennessee State University Marching Buccaneers, Johnson City, Tennessee
• Flower Mound High School Marching Band, Flower Mound, Texas
• Jonesboro High School Majestic Marching Cardinals, Atlanta, Georgia
• Lake Hamilton High School Marching Band, Hot Springs, Arkansas
• Lincoln High School Patriot Marching Band, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Macy's Great American Marching Band, USA
• NYPD Marching Band, New York
• University of Massachusetts Amherst Minuteman Marching Band, Amherst, Massachusetts
• University of South Carolina Mighty Sound of the Southeast, Columbia, South Carolina
• West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band, Morgantown, West Virginia
• The 369th Experience, Washington, D.C.

Updated September 2, 2024

• Alcorn State University Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite Marching Band, Alcorn, Mississippi
• Banda de Música La Primavera, Santiago, Veraguas, Panama
• L.D. Bell High School Blue Raider Band, Hurst, Texas
• Catawba Ridge High School Marching Band, Fort Mill, South Carolina
• Damien High School Spartan Regiment, La Verne, California
• Northern Arizona University Lumberjack Marching Band, Flagstaff, Arizona
• Spartans Drum & Bugle Corps, Nashua, New Hampshire
• Temple University Diamond Marching Band, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Recurring Bands:
• Macy's Great American Marching Band, USA
• NYPD Marching Band, New York

Bands participating in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade often take advantage of additional performance and educational opportunities during their visit to New York City. Some of the activities that bands have included on their itineraries are:

• Attending a Broadway show at one of the many theatres along the Great White Way
• Taking a harbor cruise for a unique view of the Statue of Liberty and the city skyline
• Seeing a performance at New York's legendary music venues, including Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall or Lincoln Center

Thursday, November 28, 2024
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Thursday, November 26, 2026 - 100th Annual
(Always held on Thanksgiving Day)

Web: Macys.com

Email: Contact Us
Mail: Macy's Band Selection Committee, 11 Penn Plaza, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Parade Line: 212-494-4495

If you're interested in entering your band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, click here to access the online Macy's band application. The deadline to apply for the 2025 and 2026 parades is February 1, 2024.