The balloons are back. Macy’s announced today that its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade will return as an in-person event this November. The parade, now in its 95th year, was a made-for-TV event rather than a live show last year because of COVID-19.

Now, Macy’s plans to take new safety measures for all directly involved, including mandatory vaccinations of participants and facial masks on most performers, in order to host the live event on Thursday, Nov. 25. As usual, the parade will include marching bands, musical performances, a host of floats with 80 to 100 handlers each and Santa Claus.

Macy's noted that the overall number of participants has decreased for social distancing by 10% to 20%, or 800 to 1,600.

Macy’s worked with the city and state of New York on the production of the parade, making sure the event follows current health guidelines. New York City will manage public viewing locations and plans to announce more details on certain areas of the parade route for spectators.

A Macy’s spokesman confirmed that about 40 brands will participate in the parade this year, a number on par with pre-pandemic years. In the past, balloon regulars have included Pillsbury and Nickelodeon. This year's lineup will include Funko, which is debuting a ballooon of The Mandalorian’s Grogu, the character known to fans as Baby Yoda.

While expensive—having a parade balloon can cost an estimated $190,000—experts say the media exposure for a participating brand can be valuable with both in-person attendees and viewers tuning in at home. Last year, some 20.7 million watched the TV-only parade, according to Nielsen data cited by TheWrap.

Like many retailers that saw sales sputter during the pandemic, Macy’s has more recently reported a rebound. For its most recent second quarter, same-store sales rose 61% as consumers returned to in-store shopping and picked up new items such as workwear. Net sales for the quarter rose 56% to $5.6 billion.