There are a lot of people all over the nation, and the world actually, that await Punxsutawney Phil's prediction for the upcoming Spring. I've been lucky enough to attend the fun and festivities a few times over the years, but it's been a while since I've gone.
While the party starts on Thursday February 1, 2024 - Groundhog day falls on a Friday this year, which means - my husband and I can attend! We are planning on going over and seeing Phil's prediction and joining in on the fun. I'll get some pictures and videos the best I can.
These events are so popular most of them sell out the day tickets go on sale. There are people who come from all over to celebrate this now 138 year old tradition. I had never really thought much about the history of Ground hog Day, as its just something here in PA that everyone chuckles about, there's also Bill Murray's movie Groundhog Day, and normally we just see on the local news. Even after going to the celebration I had not really thought about the roots that lead to these events. From what I read, the Pennsylvania Dutch (or Pennsylvania German as some call them now) brought over the tradition of Candlemas, a Catholic rooted festival, the Presentation of Jesus or The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus, celebrated 40 days after Christmas. The weather predicting animal for this was the badger, in some regions a bear or a fox, mostly a hibernating animal that could emerge form its burrow and give the prediction for farmers. The lore has been altered a few times over history, but does pretty much remain the same. The prediction period used to be 4 weeks of the forecast instead of 6 weeks that it is now. If you're interested in learning more, go to the Groundhog Day Wiki page for more information. There's also some history here at The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's website.
I have compiled some information for Groundhog day in Punxsutawney, PA on Friday, February 2, 2024, if you'd like to attend the events and partake in the fun. I will say it was not easy to get the information to plan the trip and to know what to expect. I have emailed The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and received no response. I headed to their Facebook page hoping to find some more detailed information in event form or another link to a better list of events, without success. I ended up asking on a post from the page for some information, they didn't respond, but some residents and Groundhog Day lovers did their best to help me gather the information I was seeking. Thank you all!
I have found out that if you want to get into the inner circle events, you need to be online and ready on January 1 of the year for the opening of the ticket sales and just hope that you get them. If you prepay for your bus tickets to the shuttle, it has to be with enough time for them to be shipped out, or you will have to repurchase them at the venue in the event they are not delivered in time. A few fellow Groundhog Day event goers gave me some tips on what to expect and how to get the best experience out of it.
They had advertised parking for $75 a vehicle, wow! However, it was sold out. I then was trying to get information on the shuttles and their locations to figure out a way to get into Gobbler's Knob and a way out. I am really hoping that when we get there that it all comes together, and is actually simpler than it appears to be.
One Groundhog Day goer gave the advice to park at the shuttle and walk the mile and a half to Gobbler's knob, so as not to be stuck waiting on a shuttle with all the event goers the wait time may make us miss the actual emerging of Phil. I'm finding that they run from 3 am until 6:30 am to Gobbler's Knob. Return shuttles run from 8 am until 2 pm. The bus passes cost $5 per person, with sales opening at 2 am, and they run from 3 locations. I found this information between the followers on Facebook and The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Website.
The 3 shuttle locations are:
Barclay Square
Aldi
Wal-Mart
I am planning on using this years trip as a way to find out more information to give to those who are interested in attending in the future, without having to go through all this research.
I will definitely post lots of pictures and hopefully a few videos of our fun at Gobbler's Knob on Groundhog day. So stay tuned for that, and I as I said, I hope to have more information and possibly more things to look for at the events in the future. Have a great day everyone!
~*Z*~
While the party starts on Thursday February 1, 2024 - Groundhog day falls on a Friday this year, which means - my husband and I can attend! We are planning on going over and seeing Phil's prediction and joining in on the fun. I'll get some pictures and videos the best I can.
These events are so popular most of them sell out the day tickets go on sale. There are people who come from all over to celebrate this now 138 year old tradition. I had never really thought much about the history of Ground hog Day, as its just something here in PA that everyone chuckles about, there's also Bill Murray's movie Groundhog Day, and normally we just see on the local news. Even after going to the celebration I had not really thought about the roots that lead to these events. From what I read, the Pennsylvania Dutch (or Pennsylvania German as some call them now) brought over the tradition of Candlemas, a Catholic rooted festival, the Presentation of Jesus or The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus, celebrated 40 days after Christmas. The weather predicting animal for this was the badger, in some regions a bear or a fox, mostly a hibernating animal that could emerge form its burrow and give the prediction for farmers. The lore has been altered a few times over history, but does pretty much remain the same. The prediction period used to be 4 weeks of the forecast instead of 6 weeks that it is now. If you're interested in learning more, go to the Groundhog Day Wiki page for more information. There's also some history here at The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's website.
I have compiled some information for Groundhog day in Punxsutawney, PA on Friday, February 2, 2024, if you'd like to attend the events and partake in the fun. I will say it was not easy to get the information to plan the trip and to know what to expect. I have emailed The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and received no response. I headed to their Facebook page hoping to find some more detailed information in event form or another link to a better list of events, without success. I ended up asking on a post from the page for some information, they didn't respond, but some residents and Groundhog Day lovers did their best to help me gather the information I was seeking. Thank you all!
I have found out that if you want to get into the inner circle events, you need to be online and ready on January 1 of the year for the opening of the ticket sales and just hope that you get them. If you prepay for your bus tickets to the shuttle, it has to be with enough time for them to be shipped out, or you will have to repurchase them at the venue in the event they are not delivered in time. A few fellow Groundhog Day event goers gave me some tips on what to expect and how to get the best experience out of it.
They had advertised parking for $75 a vehicle, wow! However, it was sold out. I then was trying to get information on the shuttles and their locations to figure out a way to get into Gobbler's Knob and a way out. I am really hoping that when we get there that it all comes together, and is actually simpler than it appears to be.
One Groundhog Day goer gave the advice to park at the shuttle and walk the mile and a half to Gobbler's knob, so as not to be stuck waiting on a shuttle with all the event goers the wait time may make us miss the actual emerging of Phil. I'm finding that they run from 3 am until 6:30 am to Gobbler's Knob. Return shuttles run from 8 am until 2 pm. The bus passes cost $5 per person, with sales opening at 2 am, and they run from 3 locations. I found this information between the followers on Facebook and The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Website.
The 3 shuttle locations are:
Barclay Square
Aldi
Wal-Mart
I am planning on using this years trip as a way to find out more information to give to those who are interested in attending in the future, without having to go through all this research.
I will definitely post lots of pictures and hopefully a few videos of our fun at Gobbler's Knob on Groundhog day. So stay tuned for that, and I as I said, I hope to have more information and possibly more things to look for at the events in the future. Have a great day everyone!
~*Z*~
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