Philadelphia celebrates New Year’s Day 2016 with 116th annual Mummers Parade [photos]

Jonathan Wilson
Associated Press

January 2, 2016

Members of Fralinger String Band perform at Broad and Sansom Streets. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
Jimmy Fiocca performed with the Bryson Wench Brigade. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
A member of the Fitzwater NYB shakes hands with spectators. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
The Satin Slippers Fancy Brigade entertain the crowds on Broad Street (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
Bicycle police patrolled the parade route before and during the parade. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
A member of the Second 2 None Drill Team is made up prior to the parade. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
Members of the Froggy Carr Wench Brigade march down Broad Street (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
The Mollywoppers NYB perform in front of City Hall (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
Faces of Mummers from the 116th annual Mummer's Parade (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
Golden ''slippers'' adorned the feet of the Two Street Stompers. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
The Fralinger String Band concludes their performance at Broad and Sansom Streets. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
A member of the Golden Sunrise Fancy Division has a piece of their costume reattached by Elfie Beer of Spring Lake, New Jersey. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
Demonstrators from Black Lives Matter protest on the sidewalks adjacent to the parade. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
An unidentified spectator, right intervenes to diffuse a confrontation between Black Lives Matter protesters and several Mummers spectators. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
The Polish American String Band performs on South Broad Street. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
The Spartans Fancy Brigade performs in from of the Union League on South Broad Street (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
A member of the Miss Fancy Brigade performs in front of the Union League on South Broad Street. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
The Vaudevillians NYB perform in front of City Hall. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
The Vaudevillians NYB perform in front of City Hall. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)
Linda Sellers of Northeast Philadelphia takes a selfie of herself, her daughter Julie Sellers, her grandson Lucas Sellers, 2, with a member of the Franlinger String Band after the band’s performance. (Jonathan Wilson/for NewsWorks)

Outrageously costumed Mummers have strutted and twirled at Philadelphia’s annual New Year’s Day parade, a colorful celebration that features string bands, comic brigades, elaborate floats and plenty of feathers and sequins.

Participants danced wildly and toted parasols Friday down Broad Street, the city’s main north-south thoroughfare, during the 116th edition of what has been called Philadelphia’s Mardi Gras.

New this year was the “Philadelphia Division,” meant to inject some diversity into the parade, with two new Hispanic performance groups, a black drill team and the LGBT Miss Fancy Brigade.

But some critics called the parade offensive, with one performing group painting their faces brown to portray Mexicans and a comic brigade mocking Caitlyn Jenner.

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Dozens of activists from the Black Lives Matter movement used the parade to stage a protest.

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