Questlove and Robin Hall on the 84th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: "We Are Genuinely Having Fun — We Don't See This as Work at All"

Ahead of the 84th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC, Premier Guide Miami's Daedrian McNaughton spoke with Questlove of The Roots — performing alongside Jimmy Fallon for the second consecutive year — and Robin Hall, Senior Vice President of Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group, who was stepping down after his 10th and final parade. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

For over 80 years, millions of Americans have celebrated Thanksgiving with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. The 84th edition featured 15 giant character balloons, 43 novelty balloons, 27 floats, 1,600 cheerleaders and dancers, 800 clowns, and 12 marching bands. Star performers included India Arie, Big Time Rush, Miranda Cosgrove, Jimmy Fallon & The Roots, Gloriana, Keri Hilson, Gladys Knight, Joan and Melissa Rivers, Jessica Simpson, and Kanye West.

On preparing for the parade: Questlove: "This marks the second time we will have done the Macy's Parade. I will be uber prepared with a lot of thermal gear and things that will keep me warm. Playing drums in the cold for three hours straight is not a task I prepared for before — I kind of learned the hard way last year. To a musician, anything below 70 degrees is freezing."

On the parade experience: Questlove: "When you go from city block to city block you're basically the first experience to the person watching you. It's kind of weird restarting again every block as if that's the first time you've been on a parade float. We are genuinely having fun and enjoying ourselves. We don't see this as work at all. This kind of brings the kid out in all of us."

Questlove's most memorable moment from the previous year: "We had to share a trailer with someone getting his makeup put on. I thought it was just a generic Ronald McDonald until he informed me that he is the only person who has ever played Ronald McDonald — and he'd been doing it for 38 years. All of us instantly turned into 12-year-olds. We were in a trailer with Ronald McDonald."

Robin Hall on his most memorable parade: "My most memorable was my first one, in 2001. We had the disaster of the World Trade Center in September. It was the most difficult and the most emotional of all the parades. Bands started to cancel, kids started to cancel, parents were calling with frantic questions. But it was the parade of parades. I've never been involved in anything so emotionally moving. Santa Claus said he had never in his existence seen so many people on the streets. I think it was one of the things that truly helped the City to heal that year."

Hall announced that the 84th parade would be his last after 10 years as Senior Vice President of Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group. He handed the role to his producer of 10 years, Amy Kule. The 84th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade aired on NBC on Thursday, November 25, 2010, from 9:00 AM to Noon.

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