Thursday, thousands of marchers holding giant balloons took over the streets of Manhattan, thus kicking off the 82nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year’s Thanksgiving party has brought forth some new balloon characters such as action-figure astronaut from the 1995 film “Toy Story” Buzz Lightyear, Horton, the elephant from Dr. Seuss books and a Smurf. As for the old line-up of the parade, both Kermit and the Energizer Bunny, two of the crowd’s favourites, were back to celebrate Thanksgiving alongside New Yorkers. For this 82nd parade, approximately 3.5 million people expected to flood the streets and follow the giant balloons on their route from Central Park to Herald Square, in front of Macy's flagship store, while another 50 million to watch the event on television. Crews for the parade inflated 12 giant and 31 smaller balloons in front of the spectators, one giant ballon being said to need over 5,000 cubic feet of helium to fill it. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade also featured 28 floats, 10 marching bands and performances by Miley Cyrus, Trace Adkins, James Taylor and the Radio City Rockettes. The parade began in 1924 and at that time, it featured floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, while at the end of the event, Santa Claus was welcome into Herald Square, which has become a Macy’s parade tradition ever since. During World War II, the event was suspended for two years, due to shortage of rubber and helium for the giant balloons and it was afterwards resumed in 1945.