The McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade Continues Chicago's Annual Holiday Family Tradition

    CHICAGO, IL, November 24, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ --

WHO: McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade, a free family event attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators, celebrates 82 years of Chicago holiday tradition.

WHAT: Loveable character balloons, top marching bands from across the country, festive floats, cultural groups, theatrical performances, equestrian groups, and celebrity guests

WHEN: Thursday, November 26, 2015

TIME: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Downtown Chicago on State Street between Congress
Parkway and Randolph Street.

**YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO COVER**

Phil Purevich, Executive Director of the Chicago Festival Association, along with various parade units, will be available for interviews.

DETAILS: Actor, writer, director, producer, and star of Broadway In Chicago's SHERLOCK HOMES, David Arquette will serve as the Grand Marshal of this year's Parade. Arquette will be joined by co-host and judge on Fox Network's hit cooking competitions, MasterChef and MasterChef Jr., Graham Elliot. Also making appearances are Big Time Rush's James Maslow, Chicago Fire's Yuri Sardarov, the world famous Harlem Globetrotters and Ronald McDonald.

The high-energy Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents Circus XTREME opens the parade broadcast and the over 100 diverse and entertaining group performances, including 19 marching bands, nine that have traveled from around the country.

Fan favorites Hello Kitty, Tweety Bird, Arthur and one of the Care Bears will float through the Chicago skyline with Santa Claus making a grand appearance at the end of the parade.

The McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade takes place rain or shine, Thursday, November 26, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., on State Street, in Chicago. Parade is broadcast live on WGN 9 Chicago locally and WGN America nationally from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (CST) Thanksgiving morning.

For more information about the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade, contact the Chicago Festival Association at 312-235-2216 or visit www.chicagofestivals.org.

The Chicago Festival Association is a unique organization with the mission of producing community events that positively impact the people of the city of Chicago, its guests and visitors. With a full-time staff of three, augmented by seasonal assistants and over a thousand of hard-working volunteers, the Chicago Festival Association strives to ensure the best in free family-entertainment for the hundreds of thousands of spectators on the Parade route and the millions viewing the national broadcast.

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