Mummers Parade Pushed To Sunday Due To Rain In Forecast
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Saturday's rain is washing the Mummers Parade away for New Year's Day. It's now being postponed until Sunday.
It's been 730 days since the last Mummers Parade was held on Jan. 1, 2020. There was no Mummers Parade last year because of the pandemic. Now, the mummers and everyone who loves to watch them perform will have to wait a little bit longer.
"It's a disappointment but it's for the right reason," said Harry Brown Jr. with the Quaker City String Band.
The mummers won't be strutting down Broad Street on New Year's Day like they did in 2019 because of the expected wet weather.
That expected rain may dampen the mood and the attendance in the crowd, but there's a very practical reason why the mummers don't like the rain either.
"The weather will really destroy a saxophone or a bass fiddle. Any dampness gets on it, it'll warp it. It could cost a lot of money," Brown said.
In addition to the financial considerations, there's also a safety component.
"Safety-wise when we're parading and we're dancing -- when we do our show we have a lot of dancers out front -- God forbid someone slips," Brown said.
The Quaker City String Band president says the four mummers associations met and voted, along with the city, to delay the parade from Saturday until Sunday.
But crews still hustled Friday to finish last-minute preps inside the Convention Center, where the fancies will perform as scheduled.
Those are ticketed competitions being held at 11:30 a.m. and at 5 p.m.
Eyewitness News got a sneak peek at some of the elaborate costumes.
"Rehearsing was interesting, especially when COVID shut everybody down," Brown said. "We did a lot of things virtually, we did a lot of Zoom things just to keep us together. And then we wound up renting a swim club over in Cherry Hill starting in July and August of last year just to keep the band together."
Speaking of keeping the band together, the Quaker City String Band says its theme is based on the Blues Brothers and putting the band back together.
Police and SEPTA say street closures and detours scheduled to begin Friday night will move one day back to Saturday. Watch before you park.
CBS3's Matt Petrillo and Siafa Lewis contributed to this report.
