Weather forecast set fair for annual Thanksgiving tradition
Big increase in security announced in wake of Paris attacks
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5.11pm GMT
With the end of the parade and the start of the The National Dog Show, we’re going to take this moment to wrap up and thank you for joining us.
5.00pm GMT
There he is! The jolly man in red and his nine reindeer.
4.56pm GMT
Two kale dishes! Don’t go overboard Mr. President
First Family's Thanksgiving menu. Kinda rude they didn't invite me TBH... pic.twitter.com/4A4NtFUETy
4.55pm GMT
In a Jessica Rabbit-esque red dress and a white fur shrug, Mariah Carey sings All I want For Christmas atop an advent calendar float.
Forget Santa. Christmas is officially around the corner.
4.49pm GMT
This year’s Thanksgiving Day parade has ballet dancers, street performers and tributes to a familiar Broadway show. Macy’s has published a selection of the performances on their Twitter page, including a number from popular musical Fiddler on the Roof and the Rockettes’ eye-high kicks.
4.47pm GMT
Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo performed what we’ll call a “seasonal saccharine ballade” as we missed the name of the song and Shazam identified it only as “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade”.
4.42pm GMT
There’s a fierce dissent amongst the Brits in the office as to whether Slade’s Merry Christmas Everybody is crap or not as Train performs a rendition.
4.37pm GMT
NBC seamlessly cuts from the Aaaaahflac duck balloon to an Aflac commercial. Aaaaaah.
4.34pm GMT
No word yet on whether it was Pumpkin or Apple pie to the rescue.
Mariah Carey's float temporarily broke down but a man dressed in a pie costume sorted it out pic.twitter.com/7bbdhiHpxS
4.28pm GMT
Santa Claus is comin’ to town (so they promise). Santa and his sleigh of faithful reindeer mark the end of the parade.
This actually began as a Christmas Day parade in 1924 and was broadcast on radio. In those days, the balloons were allowed to float away and those who found them received a gift certificate from Macy’s.
4.23pm GMT
Tony Bennet and Lady Gaga croon in the much-hyped Barnes and Noble ad, reminding us that this spectacle is first and foremost a three-hour commercial break.
Watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Amazing that absolutely everything is an ad for something. Pretty sad.
4.19pm GMT
Obama calls for compassion in dealing with the global migrant crisis. In his Thanksgiving message on Thursday, the US president reminds Americans them that the Pilgrims who came to America in 1620 were themselves fleeing persecution.
4.16pm GMT
Well, things have certainly taken a turn … at least in Paul’s head, they have
Uh oh #thanksgivingparade pic.twitter.com/A2O8HYKr8i
4.12pm GMT
Paddington the Bear, an immigrant from Peru, floated by the Trump Tower in Central Park West. Thankfully, the Republican candidate allowed the bear to pass without incident.
Paddington's suitcase is the size of a two car garage: https://t.co/WbSOzfq82R #MacysParade pic.twitter.com/4cjXT4wU4i
3.57pm GMT
We asked some of the Guardian’s American readers living abroad how they’re getting their turkey fix this Thanksgiving. From a New Yorker in Paris to a Texan in London, here’s how they’re spending America’s most gluttonous holiday …
Related: How Americans in Europe are celebrating Thanksgiving
3.51pm GMT
Buisness reporter Jana Kasperkevic called the Butterball hotline à la President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet, who is played by Martin Sheen of The West Wing.
Nicole Johnson, co-director of the hotline tells Jana that people can get quite creative with their thawing solutions.
We received a phone call one time where a father was put on toddler duty and he was also put on turkey duty. So, he needed to thaw his turkey and bathe his toddler twins. He decided he was going to multi-task and do all three in one shot. We could hear the water splashing in the background and turns out he has his kids and the turkey in the tub all at the same time. And he wanted to know if that would be an acceptable way to thaw his turkey.
Related: Thank you for calling the Butterball hotline: now let's talk turkey
3.46pm GMT
Guardian live editor Paul Owen doubts the lasting star power of the Power Rangers …
Is Power Ranger really still famous? He's the kind of guy whose career Quentin Tarantino would gigglingly reboot #parade
Thomas but no sign of Ringo Starr pic.twitter.com/wg9SUEClmj
3.42pm GMT
For those loyal Guardian readers among you …
Related: Your Thanksgiving cranberry sauce is poisoning Native American lands | Tara Houska
3.38pm GMT
Take me back. Wait – am I back?
Performances by Panic! At The Disco and Plain White T’s are sure to confuse anyone home for the holidays and just now waking up in their childhood bedroom.
As a kid, you watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for Santa. As an adult, you watch it for hot mess commentary.
3.33pm GMT
Thanksgiving began in Texas and there was no turkey? Guardian Texas correspondent Tom Dart lives to tell this blasphemous tale ...
Millions of Americans will gather around the dinner table on Thursday to mark a national holiday that originates from a 1621 autumn feast in Plymouth. But the first American Thanksgiving actually took place 2,400 miles away, in what is now Texas, in April 1598, when Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate gave thanks after crossing into what is now Texas 23 years before the Pilgrims’ feast.
Related: Move over Massachusetts: El Paso claims it beat Plymouth to first Thanksgiving
3.27pm GMT
Nous sommes tous Français
Waving the French flag in solidarity, the NYPD marches in the #MacysParade pic.twitter.com/AnG6is417G
3.27pm GMT
Barreling down 34ths St is the only clown more recognizable than Jesus if the research is to be believed: Ronald McDonald. He is apparently wearing size 1400 shoes.
Here comes Ronald McDonald! #MacysParade pic.twitter.com/QzG1Zx3LVp
3.23pm GMT
Guardian environment reporter Oliver Milman is experiencing his first Thanksgiving in America. He’s only just gotten off the boat ...
The scale of these balloons in the Manhattan streets is quite striking, like a rubberized Godzilla making its way downtown
3.19pm GMT
Mandatory selfie and a peek at an upcoming performance:
Rock legends Pat Benetar and Neil Giraldo pic.twitter.com/XpUJvV1NoY
3.18pm GMT
An addendum to an earlier post on what to watch today. MTV will be playing old Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades all day if you’re into that kind of thing.
BRB. Spending the rest of the day watching old Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade performances: https://t.co/DDTAyrjO8b pic.twitter.com/oTkCv44Bqu
3.15pm GMT
The Spirit of America cheer squad brings the pep and the pom poms in the largest performance of the parade.
3.10pm GMT
Alright, I’m falling slightly behind as the parade seems to be speeding up. Is it just me?
We had a performance by lovely Arizona native Jordin Sparks. Now Questlove of the Roots is performing on a float with the cast of Sesame Street.
3.05pm GMT
For those nursing hangovers from a night spent learning what your high school friends are up to, here’s a list of nine other things you can watch on Thanksgiving either as your parents cook or after the meal in your tryptophan-induced stupor.
Related: From football to Friends: 10 things to watch this Thanksgiving
3.01pm GMT
The parade has arrived on 34th St.
Those watching can see Macy’s Great American Marching band, which is made up of the best high schoolers marchers from around the country led by a squadron of NYPD officers on motorcycles.
2.59pm GMT
And Guthrie said it takes nearly 7,000 footsteps to complete the 2.65 parade route.
Each Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon contains, on average, 12,000 cubic feet of helium, which is capable of lifting nearly 750 lbs.
2.54pm GMT
The forever stars of the parade, the ladies of the Radio City Rockettes perform their high-kicking dance wearing what looks like Christmas wrapping paper themed leotards.
2.50pm GMT
Dressed in orange, The Wiz Live! cast gives an energetic performance of Brand New Day. It’s hard to imagine wearing short sleeves and shorts, even if it’s a balmy 53F (12C) in New York. It must be all the jumping around.
2.47pm GMT
Guardian news editor David Taylor went to the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon inflation along Central Park west on Wednesday night. He sends these photos with this note.
Here are a couple of pix I took last night at the not-so-secret inflation zone up by the Natural History Museum on the Upper West Side. Complete bedlam as the families of New York got an early glimpse. Truly bizarre to see Snoopy, and The Good Dinosaur trussed up in nets to stop them taking off from W81st St into the night sky.
2.41pm GMT
That was an exciting performance from Fiddler on the Roof.
A former colleague shares a sneak preview of what’s to come.
Go go power rangers! #MacysParade happy #thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/hGMVgl0RJg
2.37pm GMT
Jamie Alexander of Blindspot – actual synopsis: “When a beautiful woman with no memory of who she is or how she got there is discovered naked in New York’s Times Square, the conspicuous etching of FBI Agent Kurt Weller’s name across her back quickly makes it obvious to whom the case should be assigned” – tells Roker she watches the parade every year.
Roker: You portray a character who has no memory. So how do you remember your lines?
2.33pm GMT
Guardian picture editor Sarah Gilbert, who will be celebrating her first Thanksgiving this year, has put together this retrospective of balloons and performances from the parade’s early years.
Related: A look back at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade – in pictures
2.30pm GMT
Now we have a little ditty from the musical Something Rotten, which riffs on some of the most famous musical numbers.
2.23pm GMT
Matthew Morrison of Glee is singing a little tune from Believe! Finding Neverland and the people appear to love it. Who can blame them?
I'm really happy for Matthew Morrison for finally achieving his Broadway dream! #MacysThanksgivingDayParade
2.21pm GMT
Al Roker is interviewing personal hero Eva Longoria, star of Telenovela, in which she plays a Spanish soap star who doesn’t speak Spanish. Twist! Eva tells us she normally spends Thanksgiving with her family in Texas but this year will be celebrating it with her boyfriend’s family. Roker makes a dad joke about Thanksgiving with the boyfriend and we move on.
2.19pm GMT
The cast of the broadway show the King and I serenaded the crowd with a sweet performance of Getting to Know You.
Forthcoming attractions include performances by Pat Benatar, Mariah Carey and Cirque du Soleil as well as appearances by Miss America 2016, Eva Longoria, NHL legends Mark and Marty Howe – and many more, NBC promises. So stay tuned!
2.08pm GMT
NBC weatherman Al Roker is joined by an ecstatic woman who has apparently watched 60 Thanksgiving Day parades to cut the red tape at the parade starting line as Frank Sinatra’s New York New York plays. The march is on.
Let's do this! #MacysParade pic.twitter.com/JtMKCRgnJS
2.03pm GMT
And we’re off. The parade begins with an energetic performance by the cast of the Broadway show “On Your Feet”, based on the life and music of international superstar Gloria Estefan who just the other day earned a Presidential medal of freedom.
They sang and they danced. Then they threw it over to Al Roker.
1.49pm GMT
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the 89th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, on this beautiful New York City day.
Security will be tight this year, following the Paris attacks, with a record number of police officers patrolling, the city has said. But a chirpy mayor Bill De Blasio told reporters on Thursday morning that residents and visitors should fear not – there is no credible threat to the city. Brushing aside concerns, the mayor noted that this year’s parade should be the “biggest” in history.
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