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Bandai Namco and Macy’s announced that the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which takes place on November 27, 2025, will feature a Pac-Man balloon for the first time. It is, in part, designed to celebrate the character’s 45th anniversary. There’s no word exactly when he’ll appear during the parade, but the show will start at 8:30am local time on NBC.
This version of Pac-Man is based on his Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac release, which appeared on the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC in September 2025. He’s wearing his red shoes and orange gloves, and he holds a cherry in his right hand.
Here’s the preliminary art for the Pac-Man Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2025 balloon. That confirmed he’ll be 40 feet long, almost 39 feet wide, and 37 feet tall.
This marks the third video game-themed balloon in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Eevee and Pikachu Pokemon one showed up first in 2021. A new Super Mario one is debuting in the 2025 parade in honor of the Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 remasters and upcoming movie.
Macy’s official site for the parade still only notes 32 balloons as being present. It doesn’t show the Pac-Man balloon yet.
The Macy’s 2025 Thanksgiving Day Parade will take place on November 27, 2025.
