A performers strut around City Hall during the annual Mummers Parade on Tuesday in Philadelphia. The start of the parade, a New Year's Day tradition in Philadelphia, was delayed until noon.

PHILADELPHIA — Thousands of costumed mummers, undeterred by a rain delay, did their traditional New Year's strut down Broad Street on Tuesday in the 107th year of what has been called Philadelphia's Mardi Gras.

The Mummers Parade started several hours late because of showers and the threat of stiff winds, but by mid-afternoon there, were patches of blue sky and sunshine as brigades cavorted to the delight of spectators lining the route.

"I like all the camaraderie. Everybody's real friendly to you," said Philly-born and raised Linda Eichmann, 48, standing alongside City Hall as onlookers blared toy horns as the marchers neared the end of the route.

"It's the one day of the year our city all gets along," she said.

The parade stems from a mixture of immigrant traditions, some dating back of the 1640s, dubbed "mummer" probably from the German word for "mask." Different neighborhood celebrations began to coalesce in the late 19th century, and the modern parade began with city sponsorship in 1901.

The spectacle now includes competition in four divisions: comics, the satirists; Fancies, with the flashiest outfits; Fancy Brigades, with choreographed theatrical works; and String Bands, the dancing musicians, with their traditional theme "Oh! Dem Golden Slippers."

After the parade, the spectacle moves indoors for a show in the Pennsylvania Convention Center — and even then, it's not over. After the formal program, mummers and their fans traditionally congregate in South Philadelphia for a celebration that lasts late in the night, Eichmann said.

"You can see them up close, they bring the crowd in with them," she said. "They'll make you strut. It's a lot of fun."

In the Comic Division, Murray Comics took top honors in the club, captain and float divisions. In the Fancy Division, Golden Sunrise was the top club. The Shooting Stars topped the Fancy Brigades.

Fralinger, which last year became the first to win the String Band division five straight years, made it six in a row. Fralinger's William Bowen Jr. claimed the captain's prize.