Philadelphia Mummers Parade: Wonderful 117-Year-Old Tradition

“What is 2.55 miles long, 69 feet wide, 12 feet high, and covered with feathers”?

It’s not particularly difficult to answer this question because the answer is obvious: The Philadelphia Mummers Parade”!

It is believed to be the oldest folk festival in the United States but in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Mummers’ Parade has a very special place. It is held each New Year’s Day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

All participants of this colorful, beautiful, very loud and unique performance are decorated in feathered plumes and trying to impress observers. The mummers have a traditional leader of the parade “King Momus, ”; they perform in disguise to the old tune “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers”, making their way through the streets of Philadelphia.

There are many adjectives, which can help illustrate and describe Philadelphia’s extraordinary event of “Mummers Parade”.

However, no adjective is able to really explain great complexity of this performance that forms a part of a worldwide cultural phenomenon.

This 116-year-old tradition has its roots in the mid-17th-century and is related to several cultures such as Swedish, Finnish, Irish, English, German, and other European heritages, as well as African heritage.

This great event has the closest analogies to the Newfoundland mumming practices, also found in Ireland and the UK. The term “Mummer” refers to an amateur actor wearing a costume to perform in a folk play. There’s a wide variety of mummer plays, all characterized by big masks and pantomime traditions.A popular theme New Year 2017 was underwater life with participants dressed as lobsters and other sea animals.