LIVE CAMERA NETWORK
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2026 — Live Cameras
Thursday, November 26, 2026: the 100th parade. Watch the inflation streets, the route and the crossings into Manhattan, live — free, no signup.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade reaches its 100th edition on Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, November 26, 2026 — down Central Park West from 81st Street, around Columbus Circle, across Central Park South and down Sixth Avenue to Herald Square. And the night before, Wednesday, November 25, the giant balloons inflate in the streets around the American Museum of Natural History, an Upper West Side ritual that draws its own crowds.
This page gathers the public cameras that watch those streets the rest of the year — New York's street and traffic feeds around the inflation blocks, along the Midtown route, and at the bridges and tunnels everyone crosses to get there. The honest framing, as with every event page here: these are the city's cameras, not the parade broadcast. They show Thanksgiving in New York at street level — the closures, the crowds, the avenue filling before the first balloon turns the corner.
Start Wednesday evening with the inflation wall, when the balloons rise under their nets around the museum. On Thursday morning, work from the Upper West Side down to Herald Square, and check the crossings if you are driving in — parade-day Manhattan closes early and fills fast.
Balloon inflation night — the Upper West Side
The balloons inflate on Wednesday, November 25, in the blocks around the American Museum of Natural History, between 77th and 81st Streets at Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Public camera coverage of the museum blocks themselves is a handful of street feeds — the wall below is every public camera within 4 km of the museum, which takes in the park edge, the avenues feeding the inflation zone, and the crowds arriving.
The route — Columbus Circle to Herald Square
The parade turns at Columbus Circle, crosses Central Park South to Sixth Avenue and marches south to Herald Square at 34th Street. Midtown's public feeds are spaced along the avenues rather than packed on the route itself — this wall gathers the cameras within 3 km of Columbus Circle and Herald Square, the two ends of the Midtown leg.
Getting there — bridges and tunnels
Thanksgiving morning is one of the year's great drives into Manhattan. These are the public cameras within 2 km of the six crossings most parade-goers use — check the approaches before you leave, because the avenues around the route close hours before step-off.
The three views — camera counts
| Area | Cameras |
|---|---|
| Balloon inflation area (Upper West Side, 4 km) | 6 |
| Route & Midtown (Columbus Circle + Herald Square, 3 km) | 7 |
| Bridges & tunnels (six crossings, 2 km each) | 24 |
Counts are public cameras in the WorldEye directory per selection; a camera near two selections is counted in each, and the page total counts it once.
How to watch parade week on the cameras
- 1Wednesday evening, open the inflation wall: the balloons rise under their nets around the museum through the afternoon and evening of November 25.
- 2Thursday morning, start at the top of the route — the Upper West Side and Columbus Circle cameras show the avenue filling before the 100th parade steps off.
- 3Follow the Midtown wall down to Herald Square as the parade moves south along Sixth Avenue.
- 4Driving in? Check the bridges and tunnels wall first — and remember the route's streets close long before the parade arrives.
- 5After the parade, the same crossings show the getaway: the city's Thanksgiving exodus in real time.