Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2014 route map, NBC TV schedule, start time, best spots to watch

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The world-famous annual 2014 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will kick off on Nov. 27, 2014.

For those who can't make it to New York City for the 88th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the parade will be available to watch on NBC between 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. across all time zones in America. A live stream will also be available to watch the parade online.

NBC's Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie will be hosting the 3-hour parade broadcast, which is expected to be seen by up to 50 million viewers.

This year, over 3.5 million spectators are expected to show up along the 2.5 mile stretch of the parade. Over 8,000 participants will be taking part in this year's parade, ranging from bands, dazzling floats, balloons, clowns, Santa Claus and more.

The line-up of performers and appearances for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade include Frozen's Idina Menzel, Nick Jonas, Hilary Duff, Miss USA 2014 Nia Sanchez, Big Apple Circus, Before You Exit, William Blake, Sabrina Carpenter, Cirque du Soleil, Renee Fleming, Becky G, Lucy Hale, KISS, Sandra Lee, The Madden Brothers, MKTO, the cast and Muppets of Sesame Street, NEEDTOBREATHE, NHL® legends John LeClair and Pat LaFontaine, Pentatonix, Romeo Santos, Cole Swindell, Meghan Trainor, The Vamps, Quvenzhané Wallis and more.

The 88th annual parade will kick off from 77th Street and Central Park West at 9 a.m. The route will continue down Central Park West to Columbus Circle before turning onto Central Park South and 6th Avenue. Marchers will be heading straight down onto 6th Avenue past 59th down to 34th Street until they reach the iconic Macy's Herald Square. View the map of the parade route below. (see detailed map below).

This year's lineup of balloons include children's favorite characters: Toothless, Red Mighty Morphan Power Ranger, Paddington Bear, Thomas the Tank Engine, Snoopy, Hello Kitty, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Spider Man, Ronald McDonald, Pillsbury Doughboy, Pikachu, Buzz Lightyear, Smurf, Spongebob and more.

Dozens of floats will be featured, along with children's favorite Dora & Friends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Santa's Sleigh, Sesame Street, Winter Wonderland in Central Park and many more.

Grandstand tickets are not available for sale for the general public.

This year's parade official and executive producer of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is Amy Kule, who oversees the planning and production of the event. Kule will be cutting the ribbon to the sound of Let's Have a Parade!

Be sure to follow @Macys for the latest tweets about the parade. If you plan on heading over to Manhattan to watch the parade, click here to find the best place to watch.

See the route map of the parade below:

Google Maps