As the one-hundredth Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade approaches, the retailer hosted a prelude event on Tuesday evening in Moonachie, New Jersey, where 36 guests—primarily social media influencers—were treated to a traditional Thanksgiving feast. The gathering took place 100 days before the parade's centennial celebration, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the preparations underway at Macy’s parade workshop.
The venue, a 72,000-square-foot facility filled with parade floats, balloons, and props, provided the setting for the dinner. Attendees were seated at a 40-foot-long table and served classic holiday dishes such as green-bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, candied yams, and turkey. Unique touches included dinner rolls laser-engraved with guests' names and a red carpet reception featuring champagne and an amuse-bouche of candied yams.
Among the invitees were Macy’s executives and internet personalities with large followings, including Deanna Giulietti, a Broadway influencer with 1.8 million TikTok followers, and Tyler Moore, known as TidyDad, a long-time parade enthusiast who has served as a handler for the Ronald McDonald balloon and has applied to participate as a parade clown this year. Other guests, such as David Guttag, use platforms like TikTok to collaborate with brands and engage audiences through lifestyle content.
The evening began at Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square in New York City, where the group boarded Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans labeled with the names of notable parade figures, like Tony Sarg, the puppeteer credited with introducing balloons to the parade in 1928. During transit to the workshop, guide Fernando Moya Delgado quizzed guests on parade trivia, including the definition of a "trycaloon," a balloon-tricycle hybrid.
At the workshop, the parade’s director of creative production, Brendan Kennedy, led a tour of the facility, highlighting features such as Tom Jr., an animatronic turkey float and the son of Tom Turkey Sr., the parade’s longtime grand marshal and one of its most enduring floats. Visitors also toured the wood shop overseen by John Cheney, a retired shipbuilder who has contributed to the parade’s construction for over five decades.
Attendees were reminded not to photograph certain areas, particularly a room with balloons in various stages of inflation, including a top-secret balloon whose appearance is being kept under wraps. Some balloons recently completed a discreet test flight at the Prudential Center in Newark.
During the meal, parade executive producer Will Coss spoke about the event’s nearly century-old history and traditions, including the long-discontinued practice of releasing balloons tagged with Macy’s gift certificates at parade’s end. He referenced the famous 1931 incident involving the disappearance of a blue hippopotamus balloon that sparked a frantic search for its prize, a story preserved in historical headlines. To acknowledge this, guests were served miniature marzipan hippopotami, prompting cheers and photo opportunities.
The parade, which featured just three local marching bands in its inaugural year of 1926, is set to include a dozen bands from across the United States in this milestone year. The dinner concluded with a performance by a miniature brass band playing "Theme from New York, New York," led by a drum major resembling the evening’s guide, as the countdown to Thanksgiving entered its final 100 days.
The event offered a festive preview of Macy’s iconic parade, highlighting its blend of tradition, craftsmanship, and modern social media engagement as preparations continue toward the centennial celebration.