Mummers are costumed performers who go house to house or appear in parades and festivals, dancing, acting, playing music, and often wearing masks or disguises as part of a long folk tradition. Today, many people know them best from New Year’s celebrations like the Philadelphia Mummers Parade, where groups in elaborate outfits perform music, skits, and choreographed routines in the streets.

What are mummers?

  • A mummer is a person who performs in disguise during festivals, often in comic or dramatic skits, dances, or parades.
  • Historically, bands of mummers visited homes during holidays such as Christmas or New Year, entertaining with songs and short plays in exchange for food, drink, or small gifts.

Historical roots

  • The tradition goes back to medieval Europe, where mummers appeared in winter festivities wearing animal skins, masks, and fantastical costumes like bears, deer, or mythical creatures.
  • Over centuries, similar masked folk customs spread through England, Ireland, and other parts of Europe, often blending with local seasonal rituals and religious holidays.

Modern mummers and parades

  • In North America, the most famous example is the Philadelphia Mummers, costumed entertainers who perform in a massive New Year’s Day parade featuring music, dance, and satire.
  • Parade groups (often called “clubs” or “bands”) create large themed shows with coordinated costumes, props, and sometimes political or pop-culture humor.

Word meaning and usage

  • In general dictionaries, “mummer” can simply mean an actor or mime, especially one performing silently or in exaggerated fashion.
  • In everyday use now, people usually mean either traditional folk performers in disguise or participants in well-known mummers parades and festivals.

Why mummers matter today

  • Mummery survives as a form of community folk art, keeping alive older customs of costume, music, and neighborhood-based performance around the winter holidays.
  • At the same time, modern mummers events sometimes spark debate over inclusivity and cultural sensitivity, leading festivals to update rules and practices while trying to preserve the core celebratory spirit.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.