Dan Gilbert to lead Detroit's 100th Thanksgiving parade as grand marshal

Detroit's Thanksgiving morning tradition turns 100 this year, and the person leading it down Woodward will be one of the city's most familiar names. Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rocket Companies, has been named grand marshal of the 100th America's Thanksgiving Parade presented by Gardner White, as first reported by dBusiness.

The parade steps off Thursday, November 26, running down Woodward Avenue from Midtown to Campus Martius Park. WDIV Local 4 carries it live from 10 a.m. to noon, and the broadcast reaches 185 television markets across the country.

This year's edition carries the theme "This is 100," marking a century of one of the oldest Thanksgiving parades in the United States.

Tony Michaels, president and CEO of The Parade Company, pointed to Gilbert's long record in the city. "Dan is a genuine and extraordinary person, a passionate leader and philanthropist, and has committed his life and career to Detroit," Michaels said.

Gilbert framed the honor around the crowd rather than himself. "For 100 years, this parade has belonged to the people of Detroit. It is a tradition passed down for generations," he said in the announcement. He added that on Thanksgiving morning "everyone gets to experience the city we love; its warmth, its grit, and its spirit."

Rocket Companies is a longtime supporter of the parade, and Rocket's "Own the Dream" float will roll as part of the national broadcast.

Gilbert joins a grand marshal lineup that reads like a Detroit roll call. The Parade Company's own history page lists Mayor Mike Duggan and Devin Scillian as the 2025 marshals, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Mike Tirico, and Daniel Loepp in 2024, and Huel Perkins and Lomas Brown in 2023. The listing stretches back to 1959.

For anyone planning the holiday, the plan is simple: find a spot along Woodward between Midtown and Campus Martius before 10 a.m. on November 26, or turn on Local 4.