Saturday December 15th 2012 | 1 – 2pm | Bishop Field Elementary

Come get “rigged up” for the Mummers Parade. Deciding the best mummers disguise is an important part of the tradition. Mix and match a disguise from bins of clothing. Find the perfect tea cozy hat, fashion the perfect lace veil, stuff a size 42 bra, turn your clothes inside out. With bins and bins of clothing to choose from the disguises should conceal your identity just fine.

Bishop Field Elementary has opened their gym doors for the province’s biggest Rig Up.

• December 15th
  1:00 to 2:00 PM
• Bishop Field Elementary School
  (46 Bond Street)
  Get directions

We encourage individuals to bring along a bag of clean clothing to add to the mix.

Disguise is an important part of the mummering tradition. Great measures have been taken to conceal one’s identity. Disguising your height, size, sex, voice, and gait have all been employed by the mummer. Poking and prodding are common tactics for identifying a mummer, so lots of layers and padding makes the guesswork harder.

Some expert mummers swap clothes to fool their friends. Accounts of mummering in smaller communities describe groups of people meeting at one home to exchange articles of clothing that would otherwise give them away. Even underwear might be identifiable from a person’s clothesline. This mummers clothes swap is not to be missed!

Get Rigged Up

Deciding on a mummer’s disguise is often done just prior to heading out the door. Our community Rig Up lets you piece together a disguise just prior to the Mummers Parade. Mix and match your costume from bins of clothing.

Donations of old, clean clothing are encouraged (but not mandatory) to add to the mix. Please bring a bag of old clothes if you can. Especially useful items of clothing include:

• Lace curtains and doilies for making veils
• Pillowcases and bedsheets
• Hats, wigs, masks, and mitts
• Large brassieres (Size 42 bras)
• Large dresses, pants, etc. to fit over a well- padded disguise
• Aprons
• Long-johns

There’s no right or wrong way to dress up. However, concealing your identity well is the mark of an experienced mummer. Changing the shape of your body is one tactic; adding a hump on your back, or padding your entire body can turn you into a completely different person. Some mummers will cover up every inch of skin; bare hands, for example, can be a giveaway for identifying a mummer. Come to our Rig Up and see if you can fool your friends. We will have expert mummers on hand if you need any help.