Chicago Thanksgiving Parade to start an hour earlier for the first time in 92 years

Provided SHARE COPY LINK Share CLOSE Twitter Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit Flipboard If you’re planning to attend the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade this year, set your alarm an hour earlier. For the first time in the parade’s 92-year history, the Thanksgiving Day procession will begin at 7:45 a.m. — an hour earlier than in previous years, according to a spokesperson for the parade’s organizers. The earlier start will allow the parade’s television broadcast to begin at 8 a.m. on CBS Chicago, ahead of the Bears’ Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions. Pregame coverage will follow at 10 a.m. The parade along State Street will start at Ida B. Wells Drive and head north to Randolph Street. Admission is free. It will include 14 giant balloons, 12 marching bands and six equestrian units, with a new Cookie Monster balloon among the attractions. Charles “Peanut” Tillman, a Bears cornerback for 12 seasons, will be the parade’s grand marshal. Joining Tillman as a guest will be Jake Connelly, 14, an actor and Arlington Heights native who played Derek Turnbow in the final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” SHARE COPY LINK Share CLOSE Twitter Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit Flipboard Misha Manjuran Oberoi Chicago Sun-Times News desk intern Next Up In News Chicago police aren't going after domestic abusers' guns despite state law Chicago mayoral candidates make their pitches — and take aim at Brandon Johnson Finalists for Chicago's next top cop are all CPD insiders Man temporarily trapped in city's new self-cleaning bathroom in West Town People seek white car in West Garfield Park hit-and-run death of 69-year-old woman Woman, 48, killed in Greater Grand Crossing hit and run