TheAmerica's Hometown Thanksgiving Parade is an annual parade held inPlymouth, Massachusetts. The parade, which began in 1996, is traditionally held the weekend before Thanksgiving and draws its name from the fact thatPlymouth Colony was the landing point of thePilgrims involved in the traditional "First Thanksgiving" in the early 1620s. Unlike most Thanksgiving parades, which include giant balloons of popular characters, theAmerica's Hometown parade has a strict theme. Each element in the parade is based on thehistory of the United States and arranged inchronological order, with five divisions separated by century: thecolonial period of the 17th century, theRevolutionary period of the 18th century, theCivil War and pioneer periods of the 19th century, military and automotive showcases from the 20th and 21st centuries, and the closing division, the last of which includes the traditionalSanta Claus float.[1][2][3] The parade is part of the broader America's Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration, which includes a number of ceremonies, including aTurkey Trot, concerts and a street fair.
The event was not held in its entirely in 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Organizers saw this as unintentionally fitting, given that it corresponded to the winter of 1620 and 1621, exactly 400 years prior, during which the Pilgrims that foundedPlymouth Colony suffered great illness and hardship.
Broadcast rights to the parade are held byWCVB, which carries the parade live and on delay Thanksgiving morning andsyndicates an edited version of the parade to its sister stations owned byHearst Television.