Mummers Parade

THERE HAS BEEN a tremendous amount of speculative reports and subsequent conversation regarding the 2009 Mummers Parade and the financial hardships it faces. This is an event that is as much a part of the identity of the city as the Liberty Bell, cheesesteaks, Tastykake and our professional sports franchises. Ah, the professional sports franchises, namely the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and 76ers. All the franchises have enjoyed unbridled support from the city, and in particular the 5,000 or so individuals involved in the Mummers Parade.

Believe it or not, there are Philadelphians who don't like the annual Mummers Parade. Can't stand it. Would rather spend New Year's Eve with a million people in Times Square than endure one fancy brigade strutting up Broad Street. It's not always easy to identify these folks. So conscious are they of the fervor for Mummers in these parts that they try to keep their feelings to themselves. On New Year's Day, they stay in bed, sleeping off the night before or - heaven forbid - watching the Rose Bowl Parade on TV. Some anti-Mummers, of course, are transplants, who have not had the opportunity to develop an affection for the parade from the cradle.

We think it is time for the Mummers Parade powers-that-be to rethink the whole event. Twelve hours is too long for a parade; postponing it every other year is causing it to lose impact; out-of-town viewers are saying, "Why bother?" We have loyally attended the parade, returning from Connecticut many years when we lived there to enjoy the strutting. We have invited friends from out of state the last three years, and now two of these years the parade has been postponed. This year was the worst.

City Hall and the Mummers String Band Division are locked in a bitter controversy over a proposal by the musicians to stage a mini-New Year's Day parade in South Philadelphia before the official Mummers Parade on Market Street East. The 1995 parade will be on Market because of Avenue of the Arts construction projects planned for South Broad. The bands want to march from Oregon Avenue to Mifflin Street on New Year's Day morning, then take buses to Penn's Landing to prepare for the march up Market Street East.

The wind may have ruffled a few feathers Friday on Broad Street, but city officials were still crowing yesterday over the success of the 1993 Mummers Parade. Among parade organizers, this year's sequined strut to City Hall got high marks for being shorter and more sober than past marches, without being less spirited. Also - a bonus to city taxpayers - the event was much cheaper. The bill for police overtime, which often exceeds $100,000 for the Mummers Parade, was held under $10,000 on Friday.

FRALINGER String Band's "Back from the Dead" theme this year had more than one meaning: The band survived near-disaster when a fire tore through its workshop space last month. And after a two-year drought outside the top three, Fralinger is back on top after snagging first prize - the band's first top honor since its eight consecutive first prizes from 2003 to 2010. Fralinger captain Thomas D'Amore, 24, was awarded top honors as captain for the second year running. As for the rest of the results, no surprises or upsets to speak of. The oft-high-scoring Quaker City String Band came in second place, with last year's winner, Woodland, taking third.

TO BYKO: Congrats on some great ideas for saving the Mummers Parade. But it'll never work. Once again, given the opportunity to be a great city (downtown baseball stadium, waterfront development, architectural excellence, transparent city government), we'll drag ourselves down, and don't need no help from any original thinkers like you! The proof is when you have to explain the benefits of indoor performing to the Fancy Division. There is no new thinking in this town when it comes to our famous "traditions.

There have been complaints about the Mummers Parade's length, direction, costs, spectator behavior, how it's televised and its value to the city. The Daily News asked some Philadelphians how they would suggest modifying the Mummers Parade be changed, if at all. Excerpts from some of the responses follow: Paul R. Decker, vice president for tourism, Phila. Convention & Visitors Bureau: The Mummers are invaluable as a means of selling Philadelphia to visitors. Visitors who see the Mummers come back, and tell their friends to visit the city.

Yes, Virginia, there will be a Mummer's parade on New Year's Day after all. The Mummers agreed at a meeting last night to strut and strum their way up Broad Street from South Philly to City Hall in just 6 1/2 hours, compared with the usual eight- or nine-hour marathon. The 11th-hour agreement followed weeks of contentious talks between the city and the Mummers. But real sighs of relief were uttered when U.S. Rep. Bob Brady unexpectedly showed up at the meeting, held at the Mummers Museum at 2nd Street and Washington Avenue, and vowed to solve the Mummers' lingering financial problems.

Many native Philadelphians have suffered life-long conflicting feelings about that annual tradition, the Mummers Parade. A tradition unique to Philadelphia and city-sanctioned since 1901, it has been called "the oldest continuous folk festival in America. " However, the parade has been a bit of an embarrassment in terms of gender and race - the participants are mostly white men, and women have only been allowed to march in recent years. When I moved to 2nd Street above Washington Avenue in 1991, I also was warned of the celebrants attracted by the parade.