10 Things You Never Knew About the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons

For millions of Americans, every Turkey Day begins with Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Viewers have watched Broadway performances, colorful balloons and, of course, the arrival of Santa Claus for decades, ever since the inaugural celebration in New York City in 1924. The 97th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, on NBC from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST. The event is also streaming live on Peacock. Fans can also attend in person and watch the parade along its 2.5 miles of public viewing routes in New York City.

Although watching the parade has been a family tradition for decades, there are a few other things many may not know about the holiday spectacle. In 2016, then-Executive Parade Producer Amy Kule let PEOPLE in on a few things you never knew about Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.

The first parade didn't even have balloons

The inaugural parade in 1924 featured live animals, including lions and camels, from the Central Park Zoo. The first-ever "character balloon" was Felix the Cat, who made his debut in the 1927 parade.

Creating a balloon is roughly a five-month process

"There are a lot of different stages, and it depends on how intricate a balloon is," said Kule. "A round one with eyes and mouth is easy, but a Troll balloon with four characters takes a lot of engineering to bring to life. About five months is the average time."

Macy's owns every single balloon

The balloons aren't rented or outsourced and are made by hand in the official Macy's parade studio in New Jersey.

"We've got an incredible studio where we design, build and engineer each of the balloons," said Kule. "It's a big beautiful space that allows us to inflate the balloons. It's also where we build the floats, and it houses all the costumes everyone will wear in the parade. It's actually a magical space."

They didn't use helium at first

The original balloons were supported by poles and weren't inflated with helium until 1928. In 2016, to celebrate the 90th parade, there was a replica of the 1927 Felix the Cat balloon that was walked down the streets supported by handlers holding poles.

A balloon has never broken free — though they used to set them loose

When asked whether any balloons had escaped into the air, Kule said, "That's a fun fantasy!"

She added, "But they are very well secured. We actually used to let them go at the end of the parade, but then we decided we should keep them so we could reuse them. It also became a safety issue. But up until 1931, if you found one in your yard, you could bring the tag to Macy's and receive a special gift."

The first female balloon flew in 1929, but female balloons disappeared from the parade until the 1980s

"The first female was Mrs. Katzenjammer from an old American comic who flew in 1929, but it wasn't until the '80s that women flew again when we had Olive Oyl in 1982 and Raggedy Ann in 1984," said Kule.

Walt Disney himself worked on the first Mickey Mouse balloon

"The first time Mickey flew was in 1934, and we designed him with Walt Disney," said Kule. "We've had four versions of Mickey since."

SpongeBob is a challenging balloon

"Balloons typically want to be round," Kule said. "When you have a square balloon, it's generally difficult because there are so many handling ropes in order to keep the square shape. So we added a Christmas hat last time to give him better lift."

For each balloon, there are anywhere from 45 to 70 handlers.

Snoopy made way for Charlie Brown in 2016

"Snoopy has been in the parade in seven different forms since 1968, but we haven't seen Charlie Brown since 2012," said Kule.

In 2016, Charlie Brown replaced Snoopy — and he was determined to fly his kite, which was tangled around him. In 2019, a Snoopy balloon in his astronaut costume replaced Charlie Brown.

The balloons may be set free again in the future

"I do hope to let them go up in the air again in 2026 to celebrate the 100th parade!" said Kule.