How To Catch All Of The Thanksgiving Parade Action

In my opinion, waking up on Thanksgiving morning to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is just as important as the big meal you're going to have later that day. Where else can you watch performances from the latest Broadway shows, see Questlove hang out with the Sesame Street gang, and kick off the holiday season with Santa Claus all in one place? Sure, it can be a little cheesy, but watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is guaranteed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, if even for just a moment. But if you're in the middle of stuffing a turkey or traveling to your Thanksgiving destination, it can be hard to sit in front of the TV to see this Turkey Day event in all its glory. For that reason, figuring out how to stream the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade online this year is of the utmost importance.

Unfortunately, there's no great way to live stream the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but there are a few options that will allow you to catch the major highlights from this year's event. Much like Thanksgiving dinner with your family, figuring out how to live stream the parade online can be awkward and frustrating, but when it's all over, you'll be glad you sat through it.

Go Through NBC

The 89th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade airs Thursday, November 26 at 9 a.m. ET on NBC, and if you don't have a proper TV set handy, you can always live stream the parade through the network's official website. You'll only be able to watch less than five minutes of the broadcast before you'll have to verify your cable subscription with the proper log-in credentials. There's also an NBC mobile app that allows you to live stream your local station in select markets. So basically, if you don't subscribe to cable, you can't really live stream the parade.

Use Your Cable Provider

If you do subscribe to cable, and your provider allows you to live stream NBC, you'll be saying hello to a giant Pikachu balloon in no time. If not, you just gotta catch 'em all somewhere else.

Download The Official App

The official Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2015 app unfortunately won't feature a live stream of the main event this year. Though this free app is really meant as a supplement to the parade, you can still use it whether you're actually able to see the parade or not since the app includes news, behind-the-scenes prep, and activities like creating your own augmented reality balloon. You might say that kids would enjoy this app the most, but aren't we all young at heart while the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is on?

Follow Along On Social Media

The official hashtag of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is #MacysParade, conveniently enough. If you follow that hashtag on your social platforms of choice, such as good old Twitter and Instagram, you're likely to see real-time updates, photos, and videos of the festivities. It definitely won't be the same as watching the event live or on TV, but it's better than going a year without watching the parade amirite?

Images: Giphy (4)