Giant Balloons Taken For Test Flights In Preparation For Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Hundreds of volunteers are taking giant balloons on test flights Saturday at Citi Field in preparation for the 95th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Teams at the annual Balloonfest make sure the giant characters can withstand wind and other conditions before parade day.

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“Winds obviously are something that we need to consider on the day. So we’ll work through it, we’ll see how the balloon reacts, and we’ll also create some non-traditional weather experiences just to push it to the limit to see how it reacts,” the parade’s executive producer Will Cross told CBS2’s John Elliott.

The test run also helps first-time balloon handlers get the hang of things.

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About 200 volunteers arrived to help fly the balloons, said the parade’s production director Kathleen Wright.

“We have them warm up and get ready. It’s actually pretty tough to be a balloon handler,” Wright said. “We have someone that’s measuring the wind along the parade route. So they make sure they’re, in real time, checking what the wind speeds are.”

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There are four new balloons this year: Ada Twist, Scientist by Netflix, Baby Yoda, Ronald McDonald and Pikachu & Eevee.