Thanksgiving Parade With Floats And Marching Band Coloring Page

A parade moves down a street lined with spectators: a large balloon float overhead, a marching band in uniform with brass instruments and drums, flags and banners, and buildings rising on both sides. This is one of the most crowded pages on the site. The detailed style gives the band uniforms their braid and buttons and the crowd individual faces, so it is a project rather than an afternoon.

With a scene this full, a plan matters more than technique. Put the band in one uniform color scheme and repeat it exactly across every player, which anchors the picture. Then let the float and the balloon be the loudest colors anywhere on the sheet, and keep the crowd and the buildings deliberately muted. A crowd colored as brightly as the parade turns the whole thing into noise.

The first Macy's parade in 1924 used live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo instead of balloons. Balloons arrived in 1927, and for the first few years they were released into the sky at the end, carrying an address label offering a reward to whoever found them.