Macy’s debuting 7 new floats in 2025 Thanksgiving Day Parade
By Renee Anderson and Natalie Duddridge
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NEW YORK (WCBS) — The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City is just over a week away. Organizers debuted seven new floats joining this year’s lineup Tuesday, including the very first Labubu float.
The other new floats include: The Land of Glaciers, Wildlife & Wonder by Holland America Line, Brick-tastic Winter Mountain by The LEGO Group, Master Chocolatier Ballroom by Lindt, Upside Down Invasion: Stranger Things by Netflix, The Counting Sheep’s Dream Generator by Serta, and The Littlest Float from Goldfish.
Organizers previously announced the Friendsgiving in POP CITY float will feature beloved characters, including LABUBU and MOKOKO as 16-foot tall fuzzy inflatables, a first of their kind.
“Our goal at POP MART is to light up passion and bring joy, and Macy’s Parade has been doing that for nearly a century,” Larry Lu, president of POP MART, The Americas, said last month. “Bringing our characters to life at such a storied event represents a significant milestone for us as we kick off our 15th anniversary. It is an honor to represent our team, artist partners, and the global POP MART community during one of the great traditions of the holiday season.”
This year will be the 99th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to march through Manhattan. The new floats will join longtime favorites, like the Sesame Street and Peanuts characters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Tom Turkey.
The holiday tradition kicks off with the balloon inflation celebration on Wednesday, Nov. 26 along Central Park West, followed by the parade Thursday morning down Sixth Avenue.
But first, the parade studio in Moonachie, New Jersey transforms into the North Pole, filled with carpenters, engineers, painters, sculptors and animators all working side-by-side for months.
“We are, basically, in Santa’s workshop right now. We are at the Macy’s parade studio getting ready for the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade — which lets you know that the 100th is soon on the way,” explained Brendan Kennedy, director of creative production at Macy’s Studios.
CBS News New York got a sneak peek at the magical preparation behind one of New York City’s biggest holiday traditions, and even got to test drive some floats.
Around every corner is a sweet surprise, like LABABU, the viral collectors’ fan favorite.
“She is the moment, she is the icon LABABU,” Kennedy said. “I would say the LABABU here is about 800 times the size of a regular LABABU.”
While Macy’s isn’t revealing all of its parade surprises just yet, it did tell us this year LABABU will feature the first-ever giant furry balloon.
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