Mummer's Parade

With its origins in the 1800s, the Philadelphia Mummer’s Parade is the traditional celebration of the New Year and one of the country’s oldest folk customs. Mummery in America is as unique to Philadelphia as Mardi Gras is to New Orleans, and various groups of mummers (masked or costumed merrymakers) compete for originality, themes and costumes in a colorful extravaganza of feathers, sequins, elaborate floats, music and dance. The parade consists of three divisions, the Comics, who are an unstructured division of dancing clowns and satirical performers; the outrageously dressed Fancy Costume Brigade; and the String Bands with marching musicians and precision drills.