The oldest and the longest-running Thanksgiving Parade started right here in Philadelphia and it will celebrate its 105th year this Thursday, Nov. 28th. Here is the backstory with which to regale your holiday guests (when they aren’t glued to the game)!

The Gimbel’s Thanksgiving Parade

In 1920, Elis Gimbel, the son of the Gimbel’s Department Store founder, was looking for a way to, literally, drum up business for the Christmas season. At the time, there was a lot of competition. Santas and dazzling holiday decor were installed at Wanamakers, 12th & Market, Snellenberg’s, 11th & Market,  Strawbridges. 8th & Market, and Lit Brothers, 7th & Market. What could Gimbel’s do that would excite the public?

Gimbel had more than 50 store employees dress as elves and parade down Market Street along with a Santa seated in one of a convoy of Model-T Ford convertibles. This evolved into a Philly fireman, dressed as Santa, arriving on a Fire Department ladder truck and climbing into the 8th-story window of Gimbel’s Toyland with a sack of toys over his shoulder. Children went crazy, begging their Moms to take them to see the “real” Santa at Gimbel’s. The parade was so successful that the New York Gimbels copied it, starting in 1924. 

Over the years, the annual Gimbel’s Thanksgiving Parade grew to include high school marching bands, gigantic balloons, floats, and celebrities. The parade also featured nationally known TV celebrities, including Roy Rogers trotting down Broad Street on his horse Trigger! During the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, the parade would start on North Broad Street, near Montgomery Avenue, proceed south to the City Hall, then head east on Market Street to Gimbel Brothers Department Store. 

By the 1950s, other department stores were competing for Christmas business. Wanamakers had a three-story light show in its grand hall with live organ music along with a monorail on the ceiling of the toy department for children that was a hit. Lit Brothers had a Christmas Village with live animals and Strawbridge had an indoor ice skating rink in their toy department. 

In the 1960s, Gimbel’s turned a section of their store into an upscale mini department store named Saks Fifth Avenue. It was so popular, that they created a suburban location in Bala Cynwyd. But by the 1980s, the growth of the suburbs meant that no one came into the City to shop so Gimbels closed in 1986. After the closing of Gimbel’s, WPVI-TV/6abc took over and the parade switched to a televised broadcast with a route on the Parkway.

The Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philly Today

This year, the 6abc Dunkin Thanksgiving Day Parade will start at 8:30 am at 20th & JFK Blvd with a half-hour pre-show followed by a 3-hour parade on the Ben Franklin Parkway from 16th St to the Art Museum. The route is free and open to the public, except for a limited number of grandstand seats. Depending on the weather and the wind, the best seats may be inside your house in front of your TV.  In many homes throughout the Delaware Valley, it’s a tradition for the kids to gather around the TV to oooh and ah at the jumbo balloons while the adults prepare Thanksgiving dinner or play touch football.

The 2024 parade features Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders, Lisa Ann Walter from Abbot Elementary, and TV personalities Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Plus, local high school bands from as far as Nevada, Wyoming, and Georgia. If you go to the parade, be on the lookout for Boy Scouts collecting donations of canned goods for area food banks. Proceeds of the food drive currently benefit Philabundance.

Metered street parking is free in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day but public transportation is the most reliable (and eco-friendly!) way to get there, as many streets along the parade route are closed to traffic. 

Fun ways to keep warm during the parade include a stop at Dilworth Park for ice skating at the Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink and shopping at the Made In Philadelphia Holiday Market. For more gift ideas, explore our guide to Sustainable Philadelphia Stores for Eco-Friendly Holiday Gifting. Need a break? Cozy up by the firepits at the Rothman Orthopaedics Cabin. Don’t miss this year’s Christmas Village, featuring a Ferris wheel, a double-decker carousel, and over 120 vendors—there’s something for everyone to enjoy!