PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philly brought the party to South Broad Street on Wednesday, as thousands celebrated New Year’s Day at the 124th Mummers Parade. About 10,000 mummers of five different divisions—comics, fancies, wench brigades, fancy brigades and, of course, the string bands—pleased the crowd as they strutted from City Hall down Broad Street to Washington Avenue.
For many, spending New Year’s Day at the Mummers Parade is an important tradition.
“When I was a kid, I used to come here with my dad. My sister and I would come here with my dad when we were kids, and it was the most fun we had” said Theresa Hillman of Northeast Philadelphia. “So we just continue the tradition. We love it. Every year we come.”
The parade stepped off at 9 a.m. Performances were judged at City Hall before participants made their way south along Broad Street to Washington Avenue, stopping at two more performance zones, cheered on by thousands of spectators along the route.
Among them were Jane and her friend Taylor from Manyunk.
“The city of Philadelphia loves this parade—a big tradition. Everyone is here just to have a fun day,” she said.
Jane said her cousin is in the Aqua String Band—”so we are going to wait for them to come down. Yes—big fans of the string bands.”
It was a windy New Year’s Day, which sent many hats flying and many paradegoers indoors before the last of the feathers and sequins made their way through—but those who stuck it out said it was well worth it.
“I love the parade. I love the energy. I love the costumes,” said Lisa, who stepped out in a festive top hat and beads.
“What I don't like is waiting a long time, and by the end—which really has the best costumes—it gets a little slim. Some people by then are tired or drunk and maybe aren't in the parade—but that's always the best.”
The parade was right at her doorstep, her condo building located at Broad and Pine streets, one of three performance zones along the route.
“I go in there to have breakfast, take a little rest.”
It’s a convenience on a day like Wednesday—a refuge from the elements, no lines for the port-o-potties.
The 10 fancy brigade clubs in this parade also competed indoors at the Pennsylvania Convention Center with two performances in front of a paying audience. After their morning performances, they strutted along Broad Street to Washington Avenue, got on buses, and zipped back up to the Convention Center for a finale show.
The Shooting Stars Fancy Brigade won this year's competition, according to the blog Mr. Mummer.
Many among the crowd said they are looking forward to a great 2025 full of fun and good health.
“Stay on a positive note. Keep the negative in ’24,” said one.
“Oh and an Eagles Super Bowl.”
Tragedy in New Orleans puts focus on security
Public safety seemed to take on deeper significance after a man drove a pickup truck through a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans earlier in the day, killing at least 15 people and injuring about 30 more before being killed in a shootout with police. But Philadelphia officials assured spectators they always focus on the safety of the event.
“This is a great day. It’s always been a great day for us in Philadelphia, so we want to make sure that it doesn’t get marred by something that could cause harm to the crowds,” said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, who shared that he looked forward to this year’s event, ahead of New Year’s Day.
“I get to walk the entire parade line. I have a large number of men and women on the ground and tell them how much I appreciate their work this year and wish them a Happy New Year.”
Bethel acknowledged the news that broke from from New Orleans was alarming, but he said he was confident Philadelphia’s festivities would remain safe.
“Our special operations bureau and entire department work hard to make sure these events are safe, so we feel we have a very strong template but we are definitely in a more heightened posture today,” he said.
With Philadelphia hosting dozens of large events year-round, Bethel said the city has a good template for securing them, which involves multiple departments.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck governmental process, all entities of city government, as the mayor has challenged us to work collaboratively together to make sure we have a safe event,” he said.
Sanitation, for instance, plays an important part when it comes to crowd control and protection.
“As our perimeter, we use a lot of sanitation vehicles as blocking vehicles,” he explained. “Sometimes people are like ‘Why are the trash trucks in the intersection?’ This is to try to deter someone from taking a car, coming down the street and unfortunately hitting people in a parade or crowd.”
Bethel said his heart went out to New Orleans. While he knows not every attack can be prevented, the commissioner said he wants Philadelphians to feel at ease as they take part in special events like the Mummers Parade.
“We’re working hard,” he said. “I’m confident of the men and women on the ground that we will continue to make this event safe today and events moving forward safe.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.