PHILADELPHIA - The Mummers' strut has been stopped in its tracks.Philadelphia's famed, and often inflammatory, New Year's Day parade was canceled by the city on Tuesday — along with every other large event on public property through February 2021 — as officials try to keep a lid on the coronavirus pandemic.The Mummers Parade had been called off only twice before in its 119-year history, the last time in 1934 during the Great Depression.
The parade is a colorful celebration that features string bands, comic brigades, elaborate floats and plenty of feathers and sequins, but it has also attracted persistent criticism over its long history of racist blackface displays and other inappropriate or offensive behavior by some participants.