Join WJR’s Paul W. Smith along with Dayna Clark on Thanksgiving morning as we bring you all the magic of the 87th America’s Thanksgiving Parade, presented by Art Van Furniture live on News / Talk 760 WJR. Featuring Grand Marshal, Jim Leyland, this year’s Parade, themed “Downtown Our Town”, features a number of new and exciting floats, and an updated route.

America’s Thanksgiving Parade, presented by Art Van Furniture is one of the country’s oldest and most celebrated parades. Produced by The Parade Company, it has been recognized as one of the best Thanksgiving parades in the country by U.S. News & World Report Travel, second in size only to Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York.

With much momentum building as this beloved tradition nears, The Parade Company recently announced an exciting route shift for the 87th America’s Thanksgiving Parade® presented by Art Van Furniture. The iconic parade will now step-off at Woodward Avenue and Kirby, adjacent to the Detroit Institute of Arts in Midtown, on Thursday, November 28 and end at Congress just south of Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit. This new route allows for the historic parade to pass by some of Detroit’s most notable landmarks including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Orchestra Hall, Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre and Campus Martius Park as it marches more than two miles along Woodward Ave. 

NINE MAGICAL NEW FLOATS

Designed, created and built by the talented artists at The Parade Company, this year’s parade features a record breaking nine new floats that will be unveiled in the weeks leading up to the parade.

This year’s new floats will include and be sponsored by:

• Art Van Furniture
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
• DTE Energy
• The Detroit Jazz Festival
• Skillman Foundation
• Strategic Staffing Solutions
• Ford Motor Company
• FirstMerit Bank
• Radio Disney

PARADE BY THE NUMBERS

• Number of bands: 12
• Number of balloons: 8
• Number of paper-mache heads: 150
• Number of floats: More than 25
• Number of grandstands for viewing: 10,000
• Number of beads: 300,000