Saturday, January 1, 2011

111th Mummers Parade

For the 111th straight year, Philadelphia hosted the Mummers Parade marching down Broad Street all the way up to City Hall. In this truly unique parade, different groups of Mummers compete in front of judges for their costumes and performances.

I saw people dressed in all different costumes from frogs to panda bears to bed bugs to dragons. Performances included comedy and music and were judged in different categories.

This was my first experience attending this Philadelphia New Year's Day tradition and I must say I was impressed. The 50 degree weather definitely helped keep the experience positive (I couldn't imagine standing there for a few hours to watch on a five degree day!). Spectators were lined up and down Broad Street cheering on the parading Mummers and the festivities went on all morning and afternoon.

For anyone looking for something to do in Philly on a New Year's Day any year, this parade is worth checking out! And on any other day of the year, you can learn more about Mummer's at their very own museum.








Thursday, December 30, 2010

New Years Day in Philly

Wondering what to do in Philly on New Year's Day? Here's some ideas for you!
  • 111th Annual Mummer’s Parade
    • www.mummers.com
    • Parade route begins at 10 a.m. from Broad and Washington Streets in Philadelphia and heading north up Broad St. towards City Hall.
    • Tickets are available for the two judged portions of the parade. Tickets for the Grand Stand performance can be purchased that the Fairmount Park Welcome Center or the Independence Visitors Center. Tickets to both Fancy brigade performances can be purchased at www.comcasttix.com.
    • You can also watch for free at a number of the intersections of Broad St. including:
      • At City Hall
      • Broad and Sansom
      • Broad and Pine
      • Broad and Washington
      • Broad and Shunk
      • Broad and Wolf
      • 15th and Market
    • The parade begins at 10 a.m. is expected to end sometime before 7 p.m. There will be plenty of bathrooms and vendors along the parade route to meet the needs of the guests.
    • It is highly recommended that guests take public transit to the parade route and leave their cars at home.
    • You can also watch it at home on MY PHL17 beginning with pre-parade coverage at 9 a.m.
  • Kimmel Center Free News Year’s Day Celebration
    • www.kimmelcenter.org
    • The Kimmel Center is ringing in the New Year with a free family friendly celebration from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Kimmel Center is along the parade route for the Mummers, so swing in and warm up!
    • There will be reggae, jazz and puppeteers performing throughout the day. There will also be children’s crafts and face painting.
  • Longwood Gardens
    • www.longwoodgardens.org
    • Longwood Gardens continues “A Longwood Christmas” through Jan. 9, boasting half a million lights, trees that soar over 75 feet, dancing fountains and a 4.5-acre heated indoor Conservatory, make the holiday wonder for you and your family last a little longer this year.
    • There are also special organ concerts and sing-alongs throughout the day that bring the magic to life.
  • Please Touch Museum
    • www.pleasetouchmuseum.org
    • The Please Touch Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on New Year’s Day and a great place to take children. Currently they are running their Enchanted Colonial Village display, through Jan. 2.
  • The Franklin Institute
    • www2.fi.edu
    • It’s closing weekend for The Franklin Institute’s Cleopatra Exhibit, closing Jan. 2. More importantly, the museum is open on Jan. 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the exhibit will have extended hours on Jan. 1 until 8:30 p.m., with the last entrance at 7 p.m.
    • Cleopatra is an exhibit filled with never before seen artifacts from Egypt’s Queen Cleopatra’s tomb.
    • This is a DO NOT MISS exhibit.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Toy Story 3 On Ice

Over the past century, Disney has cranked out plenty of cartoons that people cherish for their entire lives and give them a "magical" feeling when the watch it over and over again. Of all of their movies, the Toy Story series probably stands out as one of the most popular over the past 20 years.

When Disney has a hit like this, they love to bring it "On Ice". Currently, they are having a run of 2 weeks at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA (formerly the Wachovia Center). I was able to get to the show on Christmas Eve, and I must say it was a blast! Having a three-year old in tow with me made it even more fun as you can see the magic of Disney fully capturing her.

The first act consisted mostly of scenes from the first two Toy Story movies, while after the intermission they focused on the latest movie, this year's hit, "Toy Story 3". There were plenty of musical numbers, impressive skating and costumes that just had to put a smile on your face.

I'd highly recommend this show to everyone in the Philly area while it's still in town, and to anyone else for when it comes to your city. The building had only about a quarter of it's seats filled, so I'm sure there are plenty of seats available for all of the remaining shows. If you have a child of any age, this is one experience they'll love and never forget.