2012 Mummers Parade: Submissions due soon!

 With the recently completed, exciting 2011 Mummers Parade on New Year's Day this year, it's easy to forget about the upcoming 2012 Mummers Parade. However, the deadline to submit an application to participate in the 2012 iteration is coming up fast on Monday, January 24 at 4 p.m. If you have any interest in marching down Broad Street on the first day of the year next year, make sure you get your submissions in ASAP.

You can place your submissions to

Leo Dignam
City Parade Director
Department of Recreation
Program Division
1515 Arch Street, 10th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102-1587

You can also submit an application via fax to the city's Department of Parks & Recreation office at 215-683-3593. If you do this though, you must also follow up by sending in your letter via regular mail as well, so you might as well just send in your application via U.S. mail.

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.

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.