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Charlie Brown, Kermit join Macy's Parade
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A balloon depicting Charlie Brown trying to kick that elusive football will fly over the streets of New York for the first time Thursday during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, joining Barney, Big Bird and other returning favorites. And Kermit, that lovable frog, will return after a 12-year hiatus. Forecasters predicted a perfect day for the 76th annual parade: mostly sunny with highs in the upper 30s and winds at 10-15 mph. The parade -- which gets under way promptly at 9 a.m. -- will feature 1,000 cheerleaders, 500 clowns, 25 floats, 14 giant helium character balloons, 12 marching bands, 10 novelty balloons, four toy floats, Santa Claus and celebrities galore. "The parade is the opening act of the Thanksgiving holiday for millions of families. It exists to bring people together," said parade director Robin Hall. The most talked about new balloon this year is Charlie Brown. Decked out in his signature yellow and black zig-zag sweater, Charlie Brown readies himself to kick the football that always gets pulled out from under the "blockhead's" foot. The balloon is 53 feet long, 29 feet wide and nearly 51 feet tall and will be filled with 13,330 cubic feet of helium. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Muppet Show, Kermit will leap into the Macy's fun for the first time in 12 years. This year's balloon will be 78 feet long, 36 feet wide and 61 feet tall. There will be two other new balloons at the festivities: Mr. Monopoly and Nickelodeon's Little Bill, the animated character from Bill Cosby's popular Little Bill books. Other balloons include Barney, Big Bird, Blue, Cheesasaurus Rex, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Jeeves, Jimmy Neutron, Pikachu, Ronald McDonald and Wild Thing. The tradition of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924, with a handful of Macy's Department Store workers who wished to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season with a parade through central Manhattan. The first large balloon appeared in 1927 with Felix the Cat. There were no parades during World War II, but the parade resumed at the war's end in 1945. That year, the parade also began using the route still followed today. The parade begins at 77th Street and Central Park West, goes south on Central Park West to Columbus Circle, then south on Broadway, through Times Square, and finally ends in front of the flagship store in Herald Square at West 34th Street -- a 2.5-mile trek. Balloons will be banned from the parade altogether if sustained winds reach 24 mph or if there are gusts over 32 mph. Those rules were implemented after strong winds in 1997 caused the handlers of a Cat in the Hat balloon to lose control of it. The balloon slammed into a lamppost, knocking it into the crowd and hitting a woman, who suffered a fractured skull and permanent brain damage.
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