USA: Giant character balloons come to life ahead of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Record ID: 449696

  • Title: USA: Giant character balloons come to life ahead of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
  • Date: 27th November 2009
  • Summary: SPIDERMAN BALLOON (SOUNDBITE) (English) KRISTEN HEARD, TOURIST, SAYING: "It seems to be something we've watched, I've watched since I was a little girl on television and it's just a special tradition and something we look forward to every year." WOMAN TAKING PHOTO (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN PIPER, VICE PRESIDENT, MACY'S PARADE STUDIO, SAYING: "It makes me feel great, I especially like seeing the looks on the kids faces and their children (laughs) because we make a kid of everybody today, they come walking down the street and go 'Spiderman! Did you see Spiderman!? Look at Spiderman!' Everybody's got their favourite. Everybody becomes a kid all over again." PEOPLE WATCHING BALLOONS BEING INFLATED SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS BALLOON BEING INFLATED ENERGISER BUNNY BALLOON MACY'S BASKETBALL BALLOON PINOCCHIO BALLOON VARIOUS BALLOONS
  • Embargoed: 12th December 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA8JQ671DCQL4XL4NVF40PYTOFP
  • Story Text: The stars of this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade were getting high on helium in New York City on Wednesday (November 25).
    Spiderman, Kermit the Frog and Spongebob Squarepants were among those getting ready for lift-off ahead of the iconic procession through Manhattan's streets.
    More than 50 balloons will travel the 2.65 mile-long route in front of 3.5 million spectators, together with an estimated 50 million television viewers.
    Helium trucks lined the street as parade staff worked to inflate the 70-foot long, 40 foot-wide characters.
    "These are very big, inflatable, sculptures and each one's different. So it does take a different amount of time according to the complexity of the balloon, how many chambers it has, because the arms are in different chambers, than the hands, than the head than the body than the legs but our teams are very experienced, some of them have been doing this for a couple of decades now," says Macy's Parade Studio Vice President, John Piper.
    The balloon handlers have their work cut out for them. Not only do they have to navigate a city of endless skyscrapers and the unpredictable weather, this year the parade takes on a new route. The 83rd annual parade will bypass Broadway, cutting a diagonal slice through Manhattan's Upper West Side to the finish at Macy's flagship store. Guiding each balloon will be a small army of workers.
    "Each of these balloons will have approximately 50 lines and so we'll have 65 or 70 of our handlers recruited to work on each balloon. That way we have enough so we can double-up or hand-off and they're all guided by the most experienced pilots and captains in the world. We have a flight team on each of the giant balloons that has a pilot, two co-pilots, a captain, two assistant captains and two vehicle teams," explains Piper.
    Hundreds of onlookers braved the cool temperatures for the chance to catch a glimpse of the world-famous balloons.
    "I've actually never seen a Thanksgiving Day Parade and this is an actual sight for me, it's great to see," says Lamar Phillips from Atlanta, Georgia.
    Many kids - and not to mention their parents - were in awe.
    "They're really big and I like that one the most because I really like Spiderman," said 7 year old Peter Migliolica, from New York.
    For Kristen Heard, from Dallas, Texas, the Parade is a time-honoured tradition.
    "It seems to be something we've watched, I've watched since I was a little girl on television and it's just a special tradition and something we look forward to every year," Heard says.
    The organisers are equally excited.
    "It makes me feel great, I especially like seeing the looks on the kids faces and their children (laughs) because we make a kid of everybody today, they come walking down the street and go 'Spiderman! Did you see Spiderman!? Look at Spiderman!' Everybody's got their favourite. Everybody becomes a kid all over again," says Piper.
    The parade starts at 9am on Thursday (November 26) at 77th Street and Central Park West.
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