The Mummers Parade in Philadelphia is known as the longest-running continuous folk parade in the United States. The parade has taken place every year since 1901 with the exception of 1919 (the Spanish Flu epidemic), 1932 (the Great Depression), and 2021 (the COVID-19 pandemic).
It’s a tradition that’s become ingrained in so many people throughout Philadelphia.
“If we didn’t have the Mummers, it would be crazy around here, and I don’t know what I would do with myself,” Pat Dio, the captain of the Spartans fancy brigade, said. “It’s a way of life and it’s like a party. It’s like going to work every day and taking your kids to school every day. It’s just there, and if it wasn’t there, I honestly don’t know what I would do. I’d have to find something else to do, but I don’t think I’d be able to find anything like it.”
The Fancy Brigade Division is one of five divisions that make up the Mummers, along with the Comic Division, Wench Brigade Division, String Band Division, and Fancy Division. It was originally formed in the early 1940s and was part of the Fancy Division. Then, in the early 1970s, the brigades broke off from the Fancy Division because they wanted to have more control, with the hope of making their final presentations more performative.
From 1978 to 1997, the Fancies did their performances outside on Broad Street. Then, starting in 1998, the event moved inside at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to avoid poor weather conditions. That’s where all 10 fancy brigades continue to perform, putting on a show that has been compared to Broadway in New York City, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and Carnival in Brazil.
The 10 fancy brigades are: South Philly Vikings, Shooting Stars, Saturnalian, Downtowners, Jokers, Satin Slipper, Clevemore, Avenuers, Golden Crown, and the aforementioned Spartans.
Costumes, props, and archives are on display year-round at the Mummers Museum, which opened in 1976 as part of a celebration of America’s bicentennial. Two museum locations were originally offered, with one being in Center City and the other being in South Philadelphia.
The 1100 S. 2nd St. location was chosen because of the importance of the museum being located on 2nd Street, known as “Two Street” by both Mummers and other locals. Many Mummer clubhouses (the home of individual clubs) are located on 2nd Street, so the museum officials wanted the museum to be there.
There were talks in past years of the Mummers Parade as a whole being stopped for various reasons, with one factor being funding. Financial support from the City depends on a combination of the City budget and the current administration’s priorities.
As a result, there’s not always a consistent amount of funding to plan each year’s parade budget.
“It’s so cost-prohibitive, and the fact is that we didn’t have funding to even operate the parade a few years ago, let alone rent the whole Convention Center and do those things,” Cheyenne McClain, the interim curator at the Mummers Museum, said. “So, the organization as a whole has been supported to different degrees by the City for a long time. … But our current mayor [Cherelle Parker] is very supportive of our cause and was actually one of the few city officials that really said, ‘The Mummers are here to stay, so let’s figure out how to make this work.’”
For now, there seems to be reason for Mummers to be optimistic about crucial funding from the City, and that’s important for everyone involved as these performances are a tradition that means so much to so many.
“I always say that this is not a hobby, it’s a way of life,” Dana Thiel, who choreographs the performances for both the Spartans and the Downtowners fancy brigades, said. “People have met their future husband or wife in their club. This is how they communicate, and this is how they socialize. … It’s like that old saying, ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.’”
The preparation process is a year-round affair, as committee meetings take place in February, themes are submitted in March, and meetings are then held with the suit committee and builder committee. That process takes a couple months, and then around May/June, costume designers are brought in to take measurements, and then drill with the choreographer starts in August.
In the beginning stages of drill, certain groups in each brigade are brought in on different days depending on their role in their brigade’s performance. Then, by October, everyone is brought in to put the whole performance together and become one cohesive unit.
Balancing life, work, and the brigade can be tough to manage, but every Mummer finds a way to make it work.
“I’ve had nurses that have run in late to rehearsals in their scrubs and just jump into their drill and they’re like, ‘Sorry, I’m so sorry,’” Theil, who is also the director of the Pennsport School of Dance in South Philadelphia, said. “They don’t feel like, ‘Oh my God, now I have to go to drill.’ They’re like, ‘I have to go to drill tonight so let’s get this done.’ They’re about it. And yes, some people are probably tired on a Sunday because they were out on Saturday, but around here, everyone knows that drill starts at 10 am.”
Most of the Mummers in each fancy brigade do not have the dance experience of the people Theil typically works with at her studio. But, as with anything else, it’s a matter of improving each year.
“The choreographers for the parade are very few because we’re the ones who understand they’re not going to be doing tour jetès and fouettés around the room,” Theil said. “Some of them never spun around on one foot before. So, it takes a little bit of time, but that also comes with how long ago they joined. If they’ve been in the club since they were a kid, then they’ve been moving up in rank and experience.”
A Captain’s Perspective
Dio, who is a Philadelphia police officer, is going into his fourth year as the Captain of the Spartans New Year’s Brigade and is one of the founding members of the club, which started in 2013. As the captain of a fancy brigade, Dio’s schedule is filled at all times as he has to balance life, work, and parade prep.
“We have people decorating things and painting all the way up until January 1st,” Dio said. “This year, I had to have two guys go up to the convention center early because they had to finish something on one of the floats. So that tells you that there’s a lot of stuff that goes into it and it always comes down to the last minute. There’s a ton of pressure to get it done.”
Dio said he takes a two-week break after the parade, and then, starting in the second week of January, he shifts all his focus back to the Spartans and the following year’s parade.
Now voted as captain of the Spartans for a fourth consecutive year, it’s clear to the club’s membership that he’s doing something right.
Dio became a fancy brigade captain later on in his Mummer career than most. But now that he’s in that position, it’s a job he, and the nine other fancy brigade captains, take great pride in.
“It feels great that people want you to be in charge and that they have faith that you’ll get it done,” Dio said. “There’s no feeling like it whatsoever. Especially when you’re done on the main floor, and you get that rush of the performance. Now you’re waiting for the results of the show and everyone’s looking at you. It’s a feeling that you can’t really describe.”
The stress for a fancy brigade captain is constant because no matter how much time you spend preparing, there are things that still need to get done at the very last minute.
Dio knows this all too well.
“December can be very hectic,” Dio, who’s been a Mummer since he was five years old, said. “For instance, this past parade, I didn’t get my captain suit until 2:30 in the morning on New Year’s Day. So, there’s a lot of stress going on because you want to make sure everything is ready. I don’t think people realize how much goes into the parade until they’re actually in it, and then they’re like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’”
The tradition of the Mummers Fancy Brigades, and the Mummer’s Parade as a whole, is alive and well. And as of right now, there’s no signs that the tradition will be stopping any time soon.
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