Macy’s tests new character balloons before Thanksgiving Day parade

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Macy’s always helps ring in the holiday season and 2026 is no different as the iconic retailer did its test run of the Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.

The new balloons — Joe Cool Snoopy with Woodstock, Bluey and Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey — along with several other larger-than-life characters were inflated and tested in New Jersey over the weekend, WABC reported.

Bluey alone is massive and is 47.2 feet tall or, as People magazine said, about the size of a five-story building.

Former executive producer of the parade, Amy Kule, previously told the publication that it takes about five months to make the giant balloons. They’re constructed from nylon cloth and are “very well secured” so they don’t accidentally fly away.

“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.”

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

WABC said the event was closed to the public, but people will have a chance to see the balloons before the annual holiday parade. They will be inflated outside the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan on Nov. 25.

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