Stevens students and Hoboken residents may have awoken to a strange sight on the morning of Sunday, September 18: A large red bird and massive candy cane rising above Stevens’ Dobbelaar Field.
The event was the annual “Balloon Field Training” for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The two balloons that rose above the Debaun Athletic Complex were Red from the Angry Birds Movie and a smaller red and green-striped candy cane.
The purpose of the training was to provide practice to the balloon handlers who will be holding and walking with the balloons on Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving Day Parade handlers, who are employees of Macy’s and their friends and family, are all volunteers. Guided by orange traffic cones and apparently enjoying the pleasant weather, they made loops around the field with the balloons throughout the morning.
According to a fan website, the candy cane requires 20 handlers while Red the Angry Bird needs almost 100 to safely navigate the streets of Manhattan.
This is the first balloon training to be held in Hoboken since 2019. Macy’s has held the tests here since at least 2005, with the aim of preventing accidents that have occurred at past parades due to poor handling and adverse conditions, including high wind speeds.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a national tradition for almost a century, running in-person every year except from 1942 to 1944 and 2020, due to World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. This year’s parade, the 96th, is set to run on Thanksgiving morning, November 24.
Be First to Comment