With nearly a century’s worth of marches under its belt, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be celebrating its 98th run this week. It’s been a New York City tradition since the 1920s. Amid your Black Friday shopping and recipe planning, you can add the televised event to your watchlist and stream it from home.
In addition to the North Pole celebrity Santa Claus, this year’s parade is set to include appearances and performances from the Rockettes, Broadway’s Death Becomes Her and Hell’s Kitchen, Chlöe, The Roots, Coco Jones, Idina Menzel, The Temptations, The War and Treaty, Tom Kenny, Ellie the Elephant, Jennifer Hudson and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo.
Viewers can expect to see floats and balloons returning from last year’s parade, but a few new stars will hit the streets. Look out for giant inflatable versions of Minnie Mouse, Extraordinary Noorah & The Elf on the Shelf, Dragon Ball’s Goku and Marvel’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man among the balloons, and don’t miss Netflix’s Wednesday float.
Whether you’re hosting guests this holiday or relaxing on the couch, you can follow along the route as the festivities kick off from the Upper West Side to Macy’s 34th Street Herald Square flagship store. Here’s when you can tune in and watch without cable.
Read more: Here’s How Most People Screw up the Turkey on Thanksgiving, According to an Expert
The 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade featured characters from The Nutcracker.
What time does the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade start?
Tune in to the parade on Thursday, Nov. 28, at 8:30 a.m. ET (5:30 a.m. PT) until 12 p.m. ET. If you’re worried about missing it, don’t fret because NBC will air an encore at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT). You can watch live on Peacock — but be sure to grab this Black Friday offer for the service if you don’t have it already.
Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker are hosting the event, which will stream exclusively on Peacock at the same time that it’s broadcast on NBC. Football fans can then lock in for the NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers, which will stream later that evening.
Peacock offers two plans: Premium for $8 a month with ads, or ad-free Peacock Premium Plus for $14 per month. We’ll note there are some ads on Premium Plus subscription due to content licensing agreements.
Students should check to see if they qualify for a discount and some subscribers may be eligible to get Peacock Premium for free if you’re an Instacart or Xfinity customer.
Watch the parade on a live TV streaming service
Are you a cord-cutter who’s dropped cable? Watch this year’s parade with a subscription to a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV, Fubo or Sling. Bear in mind that NBC is only available in select cities on Sling Blue or Sling Blue + Orange subscriptions.
The live TV streaming service carries NBC and you can watch content live or on-demand. The platform costs $73 per month, and you can type in your ZIP code to see which local networks are available in your area. Not ready for a full commitment? The service offers a free trial, and right now, new subscribers can receive a limited time discount. Read our YouTube TV review.
How to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade using a VPN
Perhaps you’re traveling abroad and want to stream Peacock while away from home. With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the parade from anywhere in the world. There are other good reasons to use a VPN for streaming too.
A VPN is the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds by encrypting your traffic. Using a VPN is also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. Streaming TV can be a bit smoother with a reliable, quality VPN that’s passed our tests and security standards.
You can use a VPN to stream content legally as long as VPNs are allowed in your country and you have a valid subscription to the streaming service you’re using. The US and Canada are among the countries where VPNs are legal, but we advise against streaming or downloading content on illegal torrent sites. We recommend ExpressVPN, but you may opt for another provider from our best list such as Surfshark or NordVPN.
If you’re looking for a secure and dependable VPN, our Editors’ Choice is ExpressVPN. It’s fast, works on multiple devices, and provides stable streams. It’s normally $13 a month, but you can save money with ExpressVPN’s annual plan.
ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Read our review of ExpressVPN.
Follow the VPN provider’s instructions for installation and choose a country where the parade will be streaming on Peacock (i.e. the US). Before you open the streaming app, make sure you’re connected to your VPN using your selected region. If you want to stream the event on more than one device, it’s possible you’ll need to configure each one to ensure you are signed in. Go to settings and check your network connections to verify you’re logged in and connected to your VPN account. Now you’re ready to open Peacock to stream.
If you run into issues with streaming, first make sure your VPN is up and running on its encrypted IP address. Double-check that you’ve followed installation instructions correctly and you’ve picked the right geographical area for viewing. If you still encounter connection problems, you may need to reboot your device. Close all apps and windows, restart your device and connect to your VPN first. Note that some streaming services have restrictions on VPN access.
For more, here’s how to prepare for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping this year.
