The country’s most recognizable balloons will get the boost they need to rise up and over the streets of New York City on Thursday, November 27, thanks to helium supplied by Linde North America for the 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Linde North America is part of The Linde Group, a leading global gases and engineering group and one of the world’s major helium suppliers. This is Linde’s 14th consecutive year as sole provider of helium to inflate and lift the giant balloons. This is also the second consecutive year Linde and Macy’s will recover and recycle some of the helium used for the spectacle.
Steve Penn, head of global helium, Linde, said, “The parade is a national institution that people across the country look forward to year after year. We are proud of our longstanding partnership with Macy’s and are delighted to work with them to keep improving the parade for everyone’s enjoyment.”
“Linde’s recovery and recycling efforts will positively impact the conservation of helium. Macy’s has worked hand in hand with us to reduce the total amount of helium it uses year-on-year. Now Linde is applying helium recovery principles used successfully in other industries and in last year’s parade to increase the amount of helium that can be recaptured for recycling,” Penn said.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will consist of 13 giant balloons, 31 novelty ornament balloons, 28 floats, 10 bands and 25 clown groups that will make the annual 2.5-mile trek down the streets of New York City on parade day.
With more than 50 million viewers across the country and more than 3.5 million spectators that line up along the parade route each year, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a national icon that has grown into a world-famous holiday event that marks the official start of the holiday season.
John Piper, vice president, Macy’s Parade Studio, said, “Our giant helium character balloons are the signature of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Each year, we partner with Linde for our helium supply that will bring our world-famous character balloons to life.”
Helium’s journey
Helium used to fill the breathtaking balloons floating over New York City in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade begins its journey in America’s heartland. Crude helium is transported by pipeline from its sources in Kansas and Texas to Linde’s helium production facility in Otis, Kan. – the world’s second-largest helium plant.
After the helium is purified in Otis, it is turned into a gas and compressed into two high-pressure tube trailers that are trucked across the country to New York City. On the day before the Parade, Linde and Macy’s staff assemble near the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, where workers begin inflating the balloons using a gas filling apparatus Linde has customized for the Macy’s Parade.
Early Thanksgiving morning, the balloons are topped off with helium and poised for the Parade. Then, as the balloons exit the parade route, Macy’s employees will determine which balloons will be selected for the helium reclamation effort.
The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with more than 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2007 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.3 billion (USD 18.7 billion). The strategy of The Linde Group is geared toward earnings-based and sustainable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.
