COURTESY MACY’S INC.
Hilo-founded King’s Hawaiian bakery company has joined with Macy’s Inc. to create its first float in the retailer’s world-famous annual Thanksgiving parade. The three-story-high float will include a working waterfall, confetti-erupting volcano, surf cafe and representations of crops most closely associated with the islands.
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A float three stories tall will bear the name of King’s Hawaiian bakery in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year.
Macy’s and King’s Hawaiian collaborated on the float’s design, which will depict the isles’ natural landscapes, including beaches, foliage and a working waterfall, the two businesses said in a statement Monday. A surf shop cafe set on the float’s “beach” will bear the word “aloha.”
A volcano will erupt with confetti and serve as a stage for a performance by a yet-to-be-announced musical act.
“We also wanted to highlight Hawaii’s unique agricultural significance,” said King’s Hawaiian CEO Mark Taira, so the float will depict crops closely associated with Hawaii, including coffee, sugar cane and pineapple.
King’s Hawaiian was founded in Hilo in 1950 but now operates out of bakeries in California and Georgia.
Also representing Hawaii in the parade will be the Hawaii All State Marching Band, comprising exceptional high school musicians from each island. With more than 500 members, the band will be the parade’s largest musical ensemble.
The parade will air on NBC (KHNL) from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 24 as part of its broadcast to a worldwide audience of more than 50 million viewers.
