PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When Philadelphia sports teams win big and fans celebrate in the streets, you’re going to see people climb poles. Light poles, street sign poles, traffic signal poles — it really doesn’t matter. The city slicks them down ahead of big events to deter would-be free-climbers, but it doesn’t stop Philly’s fervent fans.
The unsanctioned act of climbing a greased pole in Philadelphia actually goes beyond the Phillies and the Eagles. The annual Italian Market Festival has made it a welcome competition for decades.
“If you really want to learn how to climb a pole, come to the festival this year and learn how to climb the pole,” said festival manager Michele Gambino. “It’s like, come on, let’s just do it the right way!”
Every May, teams work together to climb up a 30-foot pole at the corner of Ninth and Montrose streets that’s greased with lard. The city does not use lard on the street poles, much to Gambino’s chagrin.
There are prizes for those who make it to the top: traditionally, meats and cheeses, but they can also include gift cards from local businesses.
The tradition traces back to cultures near the Mediterranean, including Italy and Malta. Now, there are grease pole competitions all over the world, including Canada, Indonesia, the Netherlands, the U.K. and several American cities. But the host of the competition, DJ Eric Bartello, said Philadelphia’s competition is special.
“All of the other locations that have a grease pole, I don’t think anyone shows as much reverence to it as we do in Philadelphia,” he said.
People don’t usually enter this competition as spontaneously as they’ll climb a pole during a parade. Although some competitors sign up the day-of, many teams strategize for months ahead of time.
“The strategy that you almost always see is that a base is formed of about seven or eight guys who surround the pole,” Bartello explained. “It’s almost like a pyramid, where on top of their shoulders, there will be another row of bodies. And it keeps going up and up and up until usually it’s the smallest guy or the lightest guy who gets at the very top.”
The person who reaches the top is called the shooter.
None of the Italian Market competitors have said they climbed any poles when the Phillies made the World Series, but Bartello wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the grease pole veterans up on a traffic light after a game.
“I absolutely think there is a correlation between the grease pole in the Italian Market, and the legacy it carries in South Philadelphia, and how it influences some of these guys to climb poles during the sporting events,” he added.
There is a common thread: In either situation, pole-climbing is a form of celebration and hometown pride.
“The festival is like this big sense of community,” Gambino said, “and I feel like when a Philadelphia sports team is winning, that sense of community just shines.”
Hear more about the grease pole competition, its origins and strategies for both greasing and climbing a pole on The Jawncast in the player below. You can also listen on the Audacy app or wherever you get your podcasts.