A Mummerful New Year? Or not?

December 20, 2007 6:52 AM

[PhillyFilter] Tell me what you know about the Mummers Parade on New Year's Day in Philly. Good times with the family or a day spent wishing you were home?

We have 4 kids, ages 10 to 17, and live about an hour out of Philly, can take the train in, and make a day of checking out the Mummers Parade.

Previously on AskMe, it was suggested that the parade sums up the best and worst of Philly. So, is it worth the trip? Or should we stay home, drink cocoa and play Monopoly?

posted by pammo to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 comments total)

The Mummer's parade is a celebration of lameness. It might not be advertised as such, but it is. It's different than any other parade I've ever seen. If you love Philadelphia, you'll have fun at the parade. If you appreciate the South Philly approach to camp, you'll have fun. If your kids are uncomfortable with standing or walking for long periods of time, occasional huge and uncomfortable crowds, and inebriated strangers (typical urban parade stuff), you might want to reconsider. I could see the 17 year old thinking it was incredibly lame, maybe that one could go shopping while the rest of you went to check out the parade?

The usual weather warnings apply -- if it's freezing, or rainy, you might want to hold off. Soggy, miserable kids make for a horrible time. Last year's parade was held in record warm temperatures, I remember wearing shorts!

My wife and I walked all the way from City Hall down almost to Oregon and took the Broad Street Subway back. We had a great time, but I attribute that as much to the weather as anything else. I look at it as an excuse to walk around neighborhoods I haven't really experienced yet. So many people are out and in good spirits that it feels incredibly safe to stroll in neighborhoods that I normally would be a little more careful.

If the weather's agreeable, I say go for it. Make sure you have multiple plans in case someone gets cranky. Once you've seen one string band or fancy brigade, you've seen them all, really. If you're not up for a hike, hang around between chestnut and south street, maybe walk over to rittenhouse or something like that. Maybe you can do a little post-christmas shopping while you're around there, though I'm not sure what's open.

If it's not raining, I'll be there shooting pictures. It should be a good time.
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 7:17 AM on December 20, 2007

I live in South Philly, so maybe I'm biased, but I adore the Mummers Parade. I watched last year from the corner of Pine and Broad, and there were a LOT of kids there--basically the whole "front row" (next to the street) was reserved for parents, kids, strollers. They seemed to love it; the folks marching are great at interacting with the audience (but not in a creepy way). Check out Flickr for a lot of photos, show your kids, ask what they think.

Overall, I'd say get there early, get a hot drink, scope out a good spot to watch from (where I was turned out well--plus it was next to a Starbucks for convenient bathrooms/coffee breaks), watch as much of the parade as you can before you get cold/bored, then have lunch somewhere fun. Don't bother with the judging, etc.

It also might be more fun for the kids if you explain some of the history to them, so they get that it's not just an extra-weird Fourth of July Parade, and that the floats, etc are built by regular people who just happen to devote a whole lot of weekend hours to creating elaborate insane clown costumes.
posted by ethorson at 7:49 AM on December 20, 2007

If it's warm out, and (this part is crucial) if you live for cheesiness, it's pretty awesome. We usually walk over to the Kimmel Center at Broad Street and hang out for a bit -- the kids (5 and 8) get a kick out of it, and when they've seen enough beer-sloshing men in dresses carrying dainty umbrellas to last them until next year, we head home. The "fancy" stuff comes towards the end of the day anyway, and they like to watch that on TV. It's definitely bizarre, but if you go with a bunch of friends who get a kick out of camp, it can be pretty enjoyable.
posted by mothershock at 7:51 AM on December 20, 2007

Last year, we just hung out in the Borders on the corner of Chestnut and Broad. In the computer books section you have a great view of the parade. Obviously climate becomes less of an issue then.

But yeah, we got bored pretty quick because we were missing the throng.
posted by butterstick at 8:22 AM on December 20, 2007

Oooh, all good answers. Thanks, Philly Mefites.

Yes, we live for camp and cheesiness. And, we're more Stonewall than Disney, so this sounds right up our alley. If the weather behaves, we'll be there with bells on.
posted by pammo at 10:04 AM on December 20, 2007

I did a photo-documentary with one of the string bands in 2005, rode the bus with the band, walked the parade route, the whole shebang. It was unusually warm that year (about 60 degrees), so it was overly pleasant and I had an absolute ball. As a kid, my parents got us tickets in the grand-stand. It was VERY cold that year, but worth a few hours of sequins and feathers, as I recall.

Basically, the parade is a little looser and unrestricted starting in Sough Philly. The closer you get to the judging area/grand stand where the clubs actually compete, the more formal and concentrated they become. If you are particularly worried about drunken revelers, I would recommend grand-stand seating or hanging near city hall - it's mostly families and folks who don't want to walk the parade route or sit on the sidewalk.
posted by rinosaur at 10:34 AM on December 20, 2007

BE AWARE: "Comic clubs tradition from ancient Greek god Momus who was the personification of mockery, blame, ridicule, scorn, raillery and stinging criticism. Momus was expelled from heaven for his/her criticisms and ridicule of the gods. The comic clubs continue to raise controversy over these themes they use in the parade that make fun of current issues and news stories such as issues involving religion, ethnicity, and feminism. Many Mummers parade controversies over policies, such as the exclusion of women and the use of black-face, lasted many years. "
posted by Carol Anne at 11:58 AM on December 20, 2007

I lived in Philly for two long years and the only thing scarier thing than the out-of-control gun violence is that parade. It is not "camp". Camp - I believe - is when you don't take yourself seriously. The mummers are serious, disturbing and just plain odd.

Is it cheesy? Philly invented cheesy.
posted by wfc123 at 2:40 PM on December 20, 2007

.. and drunk. They pile into the bars after they do their act and drink like fish.

This is really no place to take your kids.
posted by wfc123 at 2:42 PM on December 20, 2007