The Fancy Brigades, Wench Brigades, and String Bands are making their method to the ballpark! Of their annual salute to Philadelphia, the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, a Phillies affiliate, will play because the Mummers for not less than one sport this season.
The nickname is a tribute to a New Years Day parade in Philadelphia that dates again to 1901. The custom—a spectacle that I loved on TV yearly as a child with my grandmother—options locals who on the opposite 364 days of the 12 months could be plumbers, electricians, or firefighters, donning elaborate costumes and performing dance and musical numbers which were rehearsed year-round.
Mummers might pop up elsewhere—I’ve occurred throughout brigades within the summertime on the boardwalks of Ocean Metropolis, New Jersey, and Jason Kelce famously dressed as a Mummer throughout the Eagles Tremendous Bowl parade in 2018—however their predominant showcase is a 1.5-mile route alongside Broad Avenue in Philadelphia on New Years Day.
The IronPigs Salute to Philly uniforms evoke the intense colours featured in costumes worn by the Mummers—particularly the Fancies, or members of the Fancy Brigade. The emblem encompasses a dancing character in a dressing up and headdress, and stylized sort is adorned with feathers typical of the costumes.
Allentown, Pennsylvania, residence to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, is about an hour north of Philadelphia.
