Legendary Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Character Returning After 14-Year Hiatus

Hot dog! The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is bringing back an iconic and familiar face for 2025 with the return of Freida the Dachshund after a 14-year hiatus.

Freida will return to the parade with a brand new look courtesy of Macy’s and The Farmer’s Dog. “She may be a senior dog, but with a steady diet of fresh, healthy food from The Farmer’s Dog, Freida is ready to fly again,” as per Macy’s. “She’s perched atop two NYC food carts, but you won’t find any hot dogs here—it’s all real meat and veggies for our Weiner dog.”

The original Dachshund balloon made its debut in the 1949 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, measuring 63 feet long and weighing in at 200 pounds. The balloon continued to appear in the parade for two more years before going on a short hiatus following the 1951 parade, but returned in 1953 with a fresh new look, making annual appearances for three more years before its permanent retirement and disposal following the 1955 parade.

In 2003, a recreation of the Dachshund balloon was introduced as part of the heritage balloon program, which reinvented the beloved character as Freida the Dachshund. Weighing in at 52 feet long and 21 feet tall, Freida returned to her place in the spotlight for three years before retiring once again following the 2005 parade.

Freida then briefly returned to the lineup for the 2009 and 2011 parades before taking another lengthy hiatus ahead of her reintroduction this year as a specialty unit.

How to Watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade special begins at 8:30 a.m. in all time zones on NBC and Peacock on Thursday, Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day. At the same time, Telemundo will be offering coverage of the parade in Spanish with hosts Andrea Meza, Aleyda Ortiz and Clovis Nienow. An encore telecast of the parade will air at 2 p.m. ET/PT.