When you think Thanksgiving, you think food and family, but also traditions. For many, that includes watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade while prepping the Thanksgiving meal. There have been many iconic floats and balloons throughout the years (we’re all thinking Snoopy and Santa, right?), but an agriculture icon took a place in that lineup in 2017 when the Jolly Green Giant joined the parade. And 2023 was no different.

The “Harvest in the Valley Green Giant” float showed the “harvest of fall delights in a stunning, rolling landscape where the Green Giant ensures the veggies are picked at the peak of perfection. While the Green Giant kneels to harvest the perfect ear of corn, one of the most popular Green Giant vegetables on Thanksgiving, Little Green Sprout eagerly gathers green beans.”

The Green Giant sits more than two stories high. This year, the float carried the cast of the Broadway show Shucked, a story about “an unlikely hero, an unscrupulous con man and a battle for the heart and soil of a small town.”

Parade fun facts

On a personal note

While the Green Giant brand is well-known across the country, it holds a special place in my heart. I grew up in St. Peter, Minn., near the Valley of the Jolly Green Giant in Le Sueur, Minn., and spent four summers driving a pea combine for the company. My great-grandpa, Chester Johnson, worked for Green Giant working with pea viners, my grandpa, Jerry Johnson, worked for Green Giant for years as a field rep, and also grew corn and peas for the company. Even my dad, Steve Johnson, spent a few summers as a seasonal mechanic. There were also several great-relatives, aunts, uncles and a cousin who spent time working for the ag icon over the last several decades.