Groundhog handler AJ Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil in February 2020.Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
Snow may be falling in the Northeast, but that won’t stop Punxsutawney Phil and “his inner circle” from marking the 135th Groundhog Day.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club tells PEOPLE that their virtual celebration at Gobbler’s Knob will continue as planned with “Phil and his inner circle” on Tuesday despite the weather.
“The event will take place virtually no matter the weather,” a spokesperson says. “We never cancel because of weather.”
Prior to the snowstorm, Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s president, Jeffrey Lundy, hadconfirmed on their websitethat the annual event, whichtypically brings in thousands of visitors, would take place virtually due toCOVID-19concerns.
“The health and safety of our faithful followers and everyone associated with Phil’s prognostication has been our number one priority,” Lundy wrote in a statement on Nov. 17.
“Today we announce that Phil, along with the Inner Circle, will be making his live annual Prognostication from Gobbler’s Knob this coming Groundhog Day February 2nd 2021, but it has been determined that there will not be any in-person attendance or guests on the grounds as the potential Covid risks to overcome are too great,” Lundy added.
To ensure that people can still watch Phil come out of his burrow and potentially see his shadow, Lundy said they will be runninga live streamthrough the Pennsylvania tourism website.
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A groundhog handler holding Phil in Feb. 2020.Jeff Swensen/Getty
The stream isscheduled to start at 6:30 a.m. ETon Tuesday, with Phil expected to leave his burrow and observe the weather conditions at 7:25 a.m.
Other virtual events and interactions are also expected to take place, including the option to have people buy a crowd cutout of themselves to appear at Tuesday’s ceremony, according to Lundy.
“We want to assure Phil’s fans that even though the 2021 celebration will look different, the Inner Circle is excited to develop numerous virtual events and new opportunities to celebrate Groundhog Day,” he wrote. “We look forward to the day when we can welcome back all our guests and faithful followers, hopefully in February of 2022.”
The origins of Groundhog Day date back to the early days of Christianity in Europe, according to thePennsylvania Tourism Office.
Born of a winter festival called Candlemas Day, the celebration found churchgoers bringing candles to be blessed. If the skies were clear, it meant an extended winter was in the forecast.
In the U.S., Groundhog Daydates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Pennsylvania German settlers pulled the tradition from European weather lore that used the appearance of hibernators, like badgers, as a sign it was time to prepare for spring. The Pennsylvanian German folk had to work with their surroundings, and so they decided on the groundhog to replace the traditional European animals.
Meanwhile, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club records date back to 1887, with the clubprotecting and caring for Punxsutawney Phil.
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Though Philpredicted last year that an early spring was on the horizon, theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationpreviously reported that he is only right 40 percent of the time.
Punxsutawney Groundhog Clubrecords also showed that Phil is far more likely to see his shadow and has only predicted an early spring 20 times in the last 133 years.
source: people.com
