McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade

The McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade, "Chicago's Grand Holiday Tradition," is an annual parade produced and presented by the Chicago Festival Association (CFA). It is held on State Street in Downtown Chicago, Illinois, every Thanksgiving morning from 8 am until 11 am CST. The parade is telecast live on WGN-TV (in the Chicago media market) and on WGN America (in the rest of the nation).

The McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade uses primarily helium balloons, which have the benefit of floating in the air. In recent years, a helium shortage has caused several parades to cut down or cease their helium use altogether. However, The producers of this parade have yet to express any plans to move to cold air balloons; only one or two cold air balloons are used every year. Chicago's Thanksgiving Parade is the city's only event that features inflatable balloons every year.

Every year, the producers of the parade (see below) hold a parade training school to ensure sufficient preparation in several of the volunteers. For many years the Chicago Festival Association, the parade's producers, have been partnered with the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago, and hold the day's proceedings there. The main attraction and section of the school is for the balloon handlers, a name given to the volunteers who balance the giant inflatables as they go down the parade route.[4] All volunteers are treated to a sneak preview of the parade. 2010's parade school included performances from Miss Illinois and the 501st Midwest Garrison. Honorary Grand Marshal Ronald McDonald also gave a motivational speech and emceed the event.

"Specialty units" is a general category and refers to groups with unique skills or routines in the parade, such as international dance groups and sports teams. If they can easily fall into another category first, they will no longer be defined as a specialty unit. For example, if the grouped danced but also featured horses, they would be defined as an Equestrian Unit (see below) instead.

To viewers, specialty units are often considered some of the most anticipated and greatly enjoyed additions to the yearly parade. As such, the search for potential specialty units generally occurs on a year-round basis. Unlike most other parades, the producers of this Chicago parade search for new members in more ways than the standard browsing of electronic and media sources. Representatives from the Chicago Festival Association travel around the country on a regular basis to recruit new acts.

Equestrian Units are groups, or units, which feature horses as part of their performance. This is a unique addition to various parades, and the Chicago Festival Association pays special attention to potential Equestrian Units to add to the parade every year. In 2007 alone, the producers added three new Equestrian Units to the parade. The new units included the Children's Fantasy Theatre Orchard, Illinois Junior Miss Emily Boker, and Southern Ohio Ladies Aside. Since the Chicago Festival Association was given rights to produce the parade, they have made great efforts to bring in Equestrian Units from some of the most popular theater productions in Chicago. For example, in 2007, the Chicago Festival Association welcomed back the Goodman Theatre and the horses and actors from their world renowned production, A Christmas Carol.