The Fancy Brigades

The Fancy Brigades are comprised of the best-of-the-best troupes culled from the major Philly social clubs, and they compete in an indoor, competitively scored extravaganza that serves as the Grande Finale for the year’s festivities.

The Fancy Brigades were first formed in the early 1940s and are comprised of five sub-units of each major Fancy-division Mother Club. The Brigades compete against each other in an elaborate, choreographed, scored competition that has become the finale of the Mummers Parade. In 1997 the Brigades moved their show indoors to the Pennsylvania Convention Center for an organized finale of the Broad Street Parade. The initial 1998 Parade was viewed as a complete success. The Philadelphia Daily News went so far as the summarize all of 1998 as the “Year of the Fancy Brigades”.Beginning in the 2005, all eleven Brigades committed to dual performances in order to satisfies the millions of spectators known to come out for Philly’s signature event. The Fancy Brigades perform a noon show at the convention center before joining their fellow mummers in the Grand Parade, before ultimately closing the event down at the evening grand finale.

The Philadelphia Mummers Parade began in 1900. Photos courtesy of www.phillymummers.com.

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