Grand Marshall Big Sean at last year’s parade. Courtesy of Click on Detroit.
The 2018 edition of America’s Thanksgiving Parade presented by Art Van is hitting Woodward Avenue on Thanksgiving Day. Huge balloons, colorful floats, and marching bands will make up the meat of the parade, with special guests and celebrities making appearances throughout the celebration as well. This year will be the 92nd year of the parade, and CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz will be the Grand Marshall.
Last year, Detroit’s Thanksgiving Parade was voted the best Thanksgiving parade in the nation in a USA Today poll and the second best overall holiday parade in the country. The Grand Marshall in the 2017 parade was rapper Big Sean. The Detroit parade is also in the running for this year’s USA Today parade poll.
History
America’s Thanksgiving Parade has a long and storied history. Beginning in 1924, the parade is tied for second oldest Thanksgiving parade in the country along with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The oldest Thanksgiving parade in the nation began four years earlier in Philadelphia and is now known as the 6abc Dunkin’ Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Parade route. Courtesy of The Parade Company Detroit.
Route and Coverage
The procession kicks off from Midtown at 8:45 am. If you’re brave enough to endure the cold, the parade route starts at the intersection of Kirby and Woodward Avenue, just north of Warren Avenue by Wayne State of University. The route heads south through Midtown and Downtown before finally ending at Congress and Woodward Avenue. The TV zone is located just north of Campus Martius.
Not willing to step outside in freezing temperatures? The parade will air on WDIV-TV (Channel 4) in Metro Detroit from 10 am to noon and will also be broadcast in more than 190 cities across the US. Radio coverage begins at 6 am on News/Talk 760 WJR with A Prelude to The Parade hosted by Paul W. Smith and wraps up at 9:30 am. Live coverage of the parade runs from 1 am to noon on WOMC – 104.3.