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The Thanks-For-Giving Parade is how downtown St. Louis opens the holiday season: marching bands, drumlines, dance groups and musical floats, with Santa Claus at the very end. Celebrate St. Louis presents it with the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and Ameren is the community sponsor. The 2026 parade, the 42nd, steps off Saturday, November 21, at 2 p.m. It no longer falls on Thanksgiving Day. The Saturday slot lands on Winterfest’s opening day at Kiener Plaza, so one afternoon downtown covers both. This year’s date and time come from the organizer’s official parade page.
A Thanksgiving Day tradition that moved
For most of its run this was the Thanksgiving Day Parade. St. Louis Magazine called the 2017 edition the 33rd Ameren Thanksgiving Day Parade, held Thursday, November 23. The next year the City of St. Louis listed the 34th parade stepping off at 8:45 a.m. on Thanksgiving from 20th and Market streets and heading east on Market toward Broadway, where it disbanded.
By 2024 the name had become Thanks-For-Giving; KMOV reported the 40th parade making its way down Market that Thursday. Then in August 2025 the organizers announced the bigger change. The 41st parade would run on the afternoon of Saturday, November 22, paired with the 10th Winterfest. None of the coverage VisitingSTL found gives a reason for the move, so this guide doesn’t offer one.
Past parades in numbers
- 2017: St. Louis Magazine profiled Louie the Lightning Bug, a balloon built for the parade’s title sponsor. It stood 40 feet tall, held 4,000 cubic feet of helium and took 25 to 35 handlers. Inflation started at 4 a.m. on parade day, and winds of 18 to 20 mph were enough to call off the balloons.
- 2018: More than 130 units, among them giant helium balloons, animal units, restored antique cars and firetrucks. Dr. Frances Levine, president of the Missouri Historical Society, was honorary grand marshal.
- 2024: The 40th parade, with more than 120 floats, marching bands and dance teams.
- 2025: The first Saturday-afternoon parade, which traveled along Market Street and ended at Kiener Plaza.
What the 2026 parade looks like
The organizer’s page promises musical floats, dance groups, drumlines and marching bands from across the region, and Santa’s traditional appearance to close it out. As of November 2, the 2026 marching band list and the honorary grand marshals are both marked “Coming Soon.” The page also has a heading for a route map, but no working map link yet.
The giving in the name is literal. Ameren is matching donations to the St. Louis Area Foodbank dollar for dollar, up to $300,000, on gifts made between November 1 and November 30, 2026, and the parade page links straight to the donation form.
When to arrive and where to stand
This is VisitingSTL’s read of what has been posted so far, not the organizer’s advice. With no 2026 route published, Market Street is the safest bet: the 2018, 2024 and 2025 parades all used it, and last year’s ended at Kiener Plaza. Be on the curb before 2 p.m., dress for standing still in late November, and plan to stay: Winterfest’s opening day will already be going at Kiener Plaza when the parade finishes.
Winterfest opens the same day
The Gateway Arch Park Foundation’s Winterfest returns to Kiener Plaza for its 11th year, November 21, 2026 to January 3, 2027, and admission is free. On opening day the rink is listed as open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with free skating all day courtesy of Ameren. Skate rentals are otherwise $15 for adults and $10 for children 3 to 15, and anyone who brings their own skates skates free. One catch: elsewhere on the same page, the free rental day is listed as November 22, not the 21st, so confirm before counting on it.
The Winterfest page lists the Ameren Missouri Festival of Lights that evening, with a ceremony at 5:30 p.m., tree lighting at 5:45, a drone show at 6:30 and fireworks at 7. A Winterfest 5K runs that morning.
Getting there
Neither the parade page nor the Winterfest page publishes parking, street closures or transit directions for 2026, so check the official parade page again close to the date. For the rest of a downtown day, the downtown guide covers stops beyond the Arch, and the Gateway Arch guide covers the national park on the far side of the Old Courthouse.
Nearby stays
No Airbnb downtown yet
VisitingSTL doesn’t feature a stay inside downtown itself. The nearest of the three is the historic 5-bedroom Soulard home, south of downtown across I-55, whose listing describes walkable access to downtown.
View & Book on Airbnb →Quick answers
When is the 2026 Thanks-For-Giving Parade?
Saturday, November 21, 2026, at 2 p.m. in downtown St. Louis. Celebrate St. Louis bills it as the 42nd parade.
Is the parade still on Thanksgiving Day?
No. It ran on Thanksgiving Day through 2024, then moved to a Saturday afternoon in 2025, the day Winterfest opened. The 2026 parade is again on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
What is the parade route?
The 2026 route map was not yet linked on the organizer’s page when VisitingSTL checked on November 2. In 2025 the parade traveled along Market Street and ended at Kiener Plaza.
What else is happening downtown that day?
Winterfest opens at Kiener Plaza the same day, with free skating listed for opening day. That evening the Ameren Missouri Festival of Lights has a tree lighting at 5:45 p.m., a drone show at 6:30 and fireworks at 7.
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