Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2016: Time, live TV schedule, balloons, and more for Thursday

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a tradition nearly 100 years old, will draw 3 million people to New York City and will be watched by many millions more. The event is set for Thursday with a start time of 9 a.m. ET and a run time of approximately three hours.

Several athletes are scheduled to take part in Thursday’s procession. Olympic gold medalists Laurie Hernandez, Claressa Shields (who also recently won her professional boxing debut), and Michelle Carter will be there representing the United States. Former NHL players Adam Graves and Eric Lindros will also take part, as will U.S. Paralympic gold medalists Mikey Brannigan and Gianfranco Iannotta.

Those are just the athletes who have been announced by Macy’s—plenty more could be invovled in the festitivities.

The parade’s signature character balloons will include some notable new ones this year, such as a new Charlie Brown, of Peanuts fame, along with characters from DreamWorks’ Trolls and the book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Returning characters include Red from Angry Birds, Sinclair Oil’s Dino, the Elf of the Shelf, Hello Kitty, Ice Age’s Scrat, Paddington, Pikachu from Pokémon, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Red Ranger from Power Rangers, Ronald McDonald, Eruptor from Skylanders, Spongebob Squarepants, and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Below is all you need to know to watch Thursday’s fesititivies, potentially while stuffing your face with delicious food.

Time: 9 a.m. ET

Location: New York, N.Y.

TV: NBC

Online streaming: Verizon YouTube