Chicago Gears Up for 74th Annual Thanksgiving Parade 2007

A Thanksgiving Day tradition since 1934, the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade kicks off the holiday season early in the morning. The downtown parade heads north up historic State Street from Congress Street to Randolph Street. Chicago's 2007 parade steps off at 8:30am and lasts until approximately 11am on Thursday, November 22.

A crowd of between 350,000 and 400,000 is expected to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade from the city streets while over 1.5 million viewers will a local or national television broadcast. The Thanksgiving Parade is broadcast live in Chicago from 9am to 11am, and is one of the only nationally syndicated televised Thanksgiving Day parades.

The Chicago Thanksgiving Parade is organized by the Chicago Festival Association and features more than 100 different attractions ranging from impressive holiday floats, to massive helium balloons, to top notch marching bands. Other parade highlights include equestrian units, national and local celebrities, and diverse performance groups including Barefoot Hawaiians twirling fire batons. Floats from past parades include 'Gingerbread Station' by ABC 7 Chicago, 'Holiday Delights' by the Chicago Park District, and Navy Pier's Winter Wonder Float. More than a dozen giant helium balloon characters tower over the crowd including a snowman, Kermit the frog and other Muppet characters, a Thanksgiving turkey, and many more.

The official band for Chicago's Thanksgiving Parade will be the marching band from Marist High School, a catholic school in the city. The Marist High School's marching band were selected from hundreds of applicants and told of their good fortune by parade officials and with an appearance from Ronald McDonald, during halftime at a high school football game.

McDonald's owners of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana sponsor this long running parade as a part of a two year deal for title sponsorship which started with the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade 2006. A McDonald's Thanksgiving Day block of hotel rooms is offered by the Hyatt Regency Chicago, the official hotel of McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade.

The nearest subway to the Thanksgiving Parade is Chicago at 800 North State Street. City parking meters are free on Thanksgiving Day. Portable restroom facilities are available along the parade route. Weather can be quite chilly for parade revelers on the city streets. Chicago's average low temperature is 29 and the average high is 42 during late November, with cold wind chills enhanced by the breeze off Lake Michigan. Rain, snow, or sunshine, the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade forges on regardless of the weather.

Chicago kicks off the holiday season with a long running tradition; the popular Thanksgiving Parade early on Thanksgiving morning. Holiday festivities continue in Chicago throughout the Thanksgiving weekend with the 94th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday November 23, 2007.