One of our favorite events of the year, the America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration parade, will once again march through Plymouth on Saturday.The annual parade is one of the nation’s only historically accurate chronological parades, visually bringing the country’s rich heritage to life by representing each century from the 17th through the 21st.Handmade floats, bands, reenactors and other performers will begin their annual march at Plymouth Rock on Water Street. From there, the route continues on to Court Street before ending at the intersection with Nelson Street.How to watch the parade:WCVB Channel 5 will broadcast the parade live on Saturday from 10 a.m. through noon, with streaming available through WCVB.com and the WCVB App. An encore presentation will be broadcast on Channel 5 on Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Streaming and on-demand access to the parade will also be available through the VeryLocal app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV, or through the app store on your mobile device. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOADHow to attend the parade:Crowds of over 100,000 people routinely gather along the route through downtown Plymouth. Free parking is available for attendees, with shuttle buses running every 15 minutes between parking lots located at Plymouth District Court on Obery Street and at the MBTA Commuter Rail Station on Marion Drive in Kingston. Organizers said buses will also be offered for Commuter Rail riders arriving at the Kingston MBTA station at 9:17 a.m. Parade forecast:StormTeam 5 says showers are likely to last through the morning hours and into the parade. Conditions will start to dry up during the early afternoon. Gusty conditions will follow. New this year:Parade organizers add new floats every year, often marking historic anniversaries. Additions this year include:The first Thanksgiving 200th anniversary of Louis Braille’s invention of the “six dot” system250th anniversary of the moving of Plymouth Rock200th anniversary of Pilgrim Hall Museum150th and 80th anniversaries of “Taps” and NormandyHighlights from the 2023 parade:Once the first few introductory floats crossed through the performance area on Water Street, the historic element began with a tribute to the Native Americans, followed by another commemorating the arrival of the Mayflower.The next several floats celebrated the history of the first Thanksgiving, the bounty that settlers found in New England and the tradition of Thanksgiving turkeys. In the annual celebration of the region’s bounty, perhaps nothing is more synonymous with Thanksgiving than cranberries. One enormous float showcased the importance of that crop in Massachusetts.The theme of the parade in 2023 was “The Price of Freedom.” That included new floats depicting Norman Rockwell’s 1943 art about freedoms at the core of American values, the 120th anniversary of the Teddy Bear and a float marking the 80th anniversary of JFK’s heroism on PT-109. Other floats honored the sacrifices of military members and veterans, including one that featured an enormous eagle and boots worn by soldiers during the invasion of Omaha Beach and during the Vietnam War. While the parade managed to dodge most of the rain, there was still plenty of confetti.

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