Mummers Fancy Brigades Prepare For The Big Show

By Hadas Kuznits

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- This final day before New Year's is full of crammed practices at the Pennsylvania Convention Center as the Mummers Fancy Brigades prepare the performances they been waiting all year to showcase.

Bill Burke Jr., Vice President of the Philadelphia Mummers Brigade Association says the Fancy Brigades have been getting ready for New Year's Day at the Pennsylvania Convention Center since last weekend.

"They come in here with all the pieces and it's like putting a puzzle together! And they're still building, they'll be building until New Year's morning!"

Then, he says, everybody needs to coordinate for their practice sessions.

"We have 11 different brigades and each brigade varies, but they have anywhere from 50, 60, 70, 80 people in each group."

And he says nothing is completely finished until the final show.

"We have two shows on New Year's Day, we have a noon show, then we go out on the street, then we go back and do a 5:00 show where we're judged and they'll be fixing things in between shows! So, it won't stop until you're off the floor at the 5:00 show."
Tickets are still available for the early New Year's Day Mummers show at the Convention Center.