If you are one of the 44 million people tuning their televisions to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade tomorrow, pay close attention to the Kung Fu Panda balloon.

The 40ft marvel of helium and craftsmanship is co-captained by Bermudian Wendy Madeiros.

“I’ll be wearing a red captain’s hat,” she told The Royal Gazette.

For the past 25 years, Ms Madeiros has helped to guide the parade’s giant balloons across Manhattan from Central Park West to Herald Square.

The Warwick Academy marketing director’s involvement began years ago while working in New York on Vanity Fair and Mademoiselle magazines. In 1997 she took on a two-week freelance project with Macy’s department store.

“I was offered a full-time position as an executive art director in their special events department,” she said. “In that role, I designed posters, shopping bags, New York Times advertisements, and all sorts of materials for Macy’s Santaland, the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Macy’s fireworks, and the annual Macy’s Flower Show.”

When she started at Macy’s she had little experience with the annual parade. Surrounded by the magic of the event, she felt inspired to get more involved, training to become a balloon captain alongside her former manager.

With eight million spectators watching the event, a rogue balloon – some of them 100ft high, could do a lot of damage.

“If a sudden gust of wind took the balloon, it could hit a building, a tree, a light post or stuff like that,” he said. “There is always someone who goes a little bit ahead to monitor the wind. They relay back the wind speeds.”

If it is too gusty, the signal is given for balloon handlers to lower the balloon a bit.

All balloon volunteers, including the police officers walking beside them, go through training in the summer, in the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“They have small, medium and large balloons to practice on,” Ms Madeiros said. “We march and do everything we would do in the parade. We go through all the safety measures, and we are graded and evaluated by more experienced balloon managers.”

Not everybody passes. Some people are told to try again next year.

“The managers do the evaluations,” she said. “Some of them have been doing it 38 years or more.”

A balloon handling team consists of two pilots, one at the back of the balloon and one at the front, walking backwards the whole way. Then there are captains on either side of the balloon. Depending on the size of the balloon there can be 80 to 90 people handling the balloon’s ropes, divided into park side and building side teams.

The parade route is 2.5 miles long. She walks and runs to build stamina ahead of the race.

“I must be ready,” she said. “It is a lot of work, but it is worth every step.”

On the big day, Ms Madeiros provides guidance and support to the handlers.

“I am basically a cheerleader,” she said. “I encourage tired handlers, calm the nerves of newcomers and make sure everyone is safe and comfortable. It is both exhilarating and intensely focused. My attention has to always be on the balloon’s path, the wellbeing of the volunteers and the pilot’s cues.”

On occasions, she has even tied the laces of handlers, who could not let go of the ropes to do it themselves.

Ms Madeiros has stayed involved in the parade since moving back to Bermuda in 2003.

Last week, her long service was recognised at the Rollie Awards Dinner in the New York Times building in New York. She was not able to attend the event, but will collect her prize while in The Big Apple for Thanksgiving.

“I don’t know what the award even is yet,” she said. “At ten years, I got a little statue.”

“Being a balloon captain is not easy,” she said.

Thanksgiving Day begins at 5am for Ms Madeiros, when she joins other balloon volunteers at the Hammerstein in the Manhattan Centre for costume check-ins. Over the years, she has mastered the art of layering for unpredictable New York weather.

“Some years it is freezing, while others have been surprisingly mild,” she said. “I have had family and friends fly in to watch the parade from the grandstands. They have sat alongside celebrities like Ben Stiller, James Gandolfini and Yankees legend Joe Torre.”

One memorable year she captained a balloon with her late brother Chris.

“It was right after 9/11,” she said. “I flew the fireman balloon with Chris. It felt like the right thing to do that year. Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York at that time, was considered a hero. He walked alongside us with his chiefs of police for a couple of blocks. It was a fun day but it also meant so much to New Yorkers. It showed resilience and that the parade still mattered.”

For Ms Madeiros, the magic of the parade never fades. “Most of the time, I’m super-focused on the balloon,” she admits. “But when we do pause, I take a moment to look around and see the joy on people’s faces. The kids in the windows, the families on the sidewalks – they all light up when they see the balloons.”

The parade, she believes, has an extraordinary power to bring people together.

People in Bermuda, sometimes spot her on television.

“Once, someone sent me a photo of myself on their television screen,” she laughed.

“There’s so much planning and organisation behind it and there are more than 6,500 participants who work tirelessly to make it happen. It is a well-oiled machine but one that is driven by love and dedication. Everyone involved genuinely wants to create a magical experience, and it shows.”