Mummers Parade could be be postponed
By Alex Lloyd Gross
It’s cold. Anyone with a kindergarten education would know that in December and January, the weather is cold. However, the forecast for January 1 2018 is frigid temperatures that would hover around 20 degrees at the warmest point. It will be windy as well. The two elements combined make it not conducive to old a parade that lasts for several hours. At least that is what some of the Mummers groups have been saying. They want the parade postponed.
The city has already made plans and hired the additional security and made arrangements with workers to work that day. Short of a storm the city wants the parade to go on as scheduled. An meeting will be held Saturday afternoon where a decision will be made. It is possible to hold the fancy Brigades on New Years Day in the Pennsylvania Convention Center as scheduled, embargo the results for a week and hold the parade in a week. The indoors portion is not affected by the weather .
Holding the parade outside can make the musical instruments not sound perfect, when they freeze up, Mummers groups say. Spectators will also have to brave the cold for hours. Mummers point to the hardship imposed on elderly and small children. The city had promised warming tents along the parade route and offered heated buses to travel behind each group for their members to get warm in, should they need it. The decision on Saturday will be announced here.