AP PHOTOS: Hundreds attend clown college to take part in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

NEW YORK, N.Y. – About 300 volunteers, most of them Macy’s employees, spent Saturday at “Clown U.” to learn how to be clowns in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

After warming up under the Big Apple Circus’ big top, the clowns-in-training took an oath in which they promised, among other things, not to drink while in costume and not to bother the parade’s celebrities.

Professional clowns and veteran parade leaders from Macy’s later rehearsed routines and passed along various tips including “conserve your confetti” and “wear layers.”

The volunteer clowns will accompany an appropriate balloon or float in the parade.

Here is a photo gallery looking at the day’s activities.

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