When the annual Mummers Parade struts up Broad Street in Philadelphia on New Year’s Day, the performers and spectators will be met with frigid and dangerous cold.
With a foretasted high temperature for Philadelphia New Year’s Day at a bone-chilling 21 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, the traditional parade, filled with colorful costumes and exciting music will be a frigid affair.
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Among the bands performing in the parade will be the Uptown String Band, which is based in Hulmeville and manage the hall at the Parkland Fire Company building in Middletown’s Parkland section.
The string band is made up of about 120 members who have been preparing to perform in the sub-freezing tempatures.
“We will definitely be ready for Monday,” laughed Jeff Kirby, the drill director of the band.
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After a vote by the Mummer band divisions, the parade remained on track of New Year’s Day, so the Uptown String Band will be there pushing through, explained Jamie Caldwell, the groups captain.
A lot of the normal rules are being bent in favor of this year’s parade. The band will be bringing portable heaters and keeping buses nearby, Caldwell explained.
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This year’s theme for the Uptown String Band is “Voodoo Gras.” According to Kirby, the theme will invoke popular feelings of Mardi Gras in a New Orleans cemetery. Witchcraft, black magic and more all have a part in the show.
“It’s just a different take on the typical Mardi Gras theme,” Kirby went on.
The group has been putting together this year’s show since January, about a week after last year’s parade ended. LevittownNow.c0m visited the band as they practiced at a warehouse in Falls Township Saturday afternoon.
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