America’s Thanksgiving Parade is where memories are made, and it’s been that way for generations of Metro Detroiters.
Emily Clancy grew up watching the parade on television.
Now she’s creating new traditions with her son, Axel.
Clancy and Axel took in glimpses of the floats lined up at the start of the parade route.
“Axel is almost 2. He will be two next week. We really wanted to start a Thanksgiving tradition of coming down to the parade and being a part of it in some way. We can’t come tomorrow, and I saw this pop-up on Facebook that you can just come walk and see the floats. I was like, that’s so cool and so special,” Clancy said.
This year’s parade will feature 28 floats, six of them new to the parade.
Attendees can also expect high-flying balloons and marching bands.
Melissa Liang and her son, Carson, also won’t make it to the parade Thursday (Nov. 28).
They’ll be at the turkey trot. So, they came to see the floats ahead of time.
“It is kind of cool. This is the only time this road (Woodward) is quiet. So, it is kind of fun to walk around and to take a look at all the floats,” Liang said.
The parade begins Thanksgiving at 8:45 a.m. at Woodward Avenue and W Kirby Street. The three-mile parade round ends at Woodward Avenue and E Congress Street.
The parade is in its 98th year.
“My favorite part is the family and the kids and everybody that is here smiling,” The Parade Company CEO and President Tony Michaels shared. “It means so much, and this is the heart and soul of our city and state. It’s the parade.”