Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
If you can't make the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade we have the best places to watch it live online for you Getty

For 89 years now the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade has been enjoyed by hundreds of millions in the US and around the world as the traditional way to kick-off the festive holiday season.

In recent years, the Emmy Award-winning pageant has been viewed by 3.5 million people in New York and 50 million people on their televisions, according to Macy's.

Initially started in 1924 as a Christmas parade, the parade began with the help of the retailer's employees and featuring animals from the New York Central Park Zoo. The first inflatable balloons, the hallmark of the parade and recognisable around the world, appeared in 1927 and the festive pageant was first broadcast live in 1946 on NBC.

This year, in keeping with tradition, the parade will take place over a 2.5 mile course through the streets of Manhattan, passing from 77<sup>th Street and Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square.

Macy's has set up a Facebook page where the parade can be streamed live or you can watch from EarthCam, a static web camera in Manhattan's Columbus Circle. Readers in the US can pick up the pageant on Thursday 26 November through the NBC livestream.