Nintendo and Macy’s have announced that there will be a Mario helium balloon flying high above the streets of New York City this Thanksgiving for the 99th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Nintendo released a 3D model of what the balloon will look like, and yep, that’s Mario. The real thing will be 51 feet long, 37 feet wide, and nearly 44 feet tall. He’s wearing his iconic blue overalls and well-known red cap. His body is positioned in such a way to be a callback to Super Mario Galaxy.
Nintendo is doing this in 2025 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game, which launched in Japan back in 1985.
On Nov 27, Mario will take to the skies of New York City at the #MacysParade, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game. Here’s a first look at the 3D model of the new Mario balloon! @Macys pic.twitter.com/bginx8jcFl
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 24, 2025
This will not be Mario’s first balloon at the iconic America parade, as he made his debut at the 60th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade back in 1986. Balloons for Nintendo-adjacent characters, like Pikachu, have appeared in the parade, too.
The 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place on Thursday, November 27, airing at 8:30 AM local time.
As for the Mario game series, many are expecting Nintendo to release a new 3D Mario game for the Switch 2, but no announcements have been made thus far.
