Controversial Mummers Routines Being Blamed For Funding Slump For Manayunk's Mardi Gras Parade
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The organizers of the 2nd annual Mummers Mardi Gras Parade are having trouble finding sponsors for the event, and believe it's because of the offensive routines and costumes displayed by a few comic and wench brigades at the New Year's Day parade.
Manayunk Development Corporation Executive Director Jane Lipton says last February's parade was such a success, organizers figured raising funds for this year's would be a cakewalk.
"At first, you don't think anything about it, until you start hearing people --very politely -- say 'No. Love the Mummers -- uh...can't do it this year,'" she says. "And we started to realize that what happened on New Year's Day was potentially affecting our ability to sell our event."
That's despite the fact that Manayunk's Mardi Gras Parade features only string bands, in what Lipton says is intended to be a family-friendly celebration of the best of the Mummers tradition.
"We have a zero tolerance for alcohol out on the street during the event," she says. "It's just a great parade."