Every year Montgomery County holds its annual Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Silver Spring. The Civic Center turns into an indoor headquarters for organizers to sort, label, and separate every costume, inflatable, elf, and turkey hat that each volunteer wears. Banners are displayed by groups, and giant inflatables are tested.
“It’s really just a wonderful community event that so many have put on their annual calendar to get ready to kick off the holiday season,” said Jacob Newman, director of the Silver Spring Regional Center, who every year makes sure all inflatables are working among multiple other tasks he’s responsible for.
From colorful dresses, sweaters, and toy turkeys, every detail is prepared, labeled and rehearsed before any float rolls onto Ellsworth Drive and Georgia Avenue.
“This year is the 250th celebration of Montgomery County as a county, and so there will be a particular unit or two that focuses on the county’s origins, as well as a celebration of the many things which makes the county so wonderful today,” said Newman.
The event is held every year in downtown Silver Spring just a few days before Thanksgiving Day.
Outside on Veterans Plaza, big inflatables are tested — a penguin, an alligator, a turkey, and a polar bear walk the parade route with the help of handlers. “So we do everything from double-checking big, giant inflatable balloons to ordering extra fencing. The clean and safe team for the urban district who wear red shirts — handles that,” said Carson Henry, manager of the Silver Spring Urban District.
Carson adds that the work is nonstop and is all part of making the parade walkways and surroundings safe for everybody to have fun.
Right next to the Civic Center and Veterans Plaza, the Akhmedova Ballet Academy artistic director and founder prepares the winter outfits for the dancers that every year perform in the parade.
“We’re doing this every year, and we’re very excited for it. We prepared the Skater’s Waltz, and it was specially choreographed for our community. We are so excited to share it with everybody,” said Jaqueline Akhmedova, Founder of Akhmedova Ballet Academy.
Akhmedova sees the event as a way to showcase her dancers and give back to the community. “We normally walk the parade, and then we dance in front of the grandstand.”
Montgomery County announced that this year’s parade featured more units than ever before, giving participants the chance to enjoy school marching bands along with harvest and Thanksgiving motifs, dancers, skaters and giant inflatables.
Maryland elected officials including Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, Congressman Jamie Raskin, Senator Chris Van Hollen, and Brooke Lierman, the first woman Comptroller of Maryland, walked the parade as well.
The event kicks off Montgomery County’s 250th Birthday commemoration, leading up to the official celebration on Sept. 6, 2026.
