By 10 a.m. Friday, groups were seen gathering on the streets of South Philadelphia. "New Year's isn't New Year's without the parade," said Cheryl Oriolo, who watched the makeshift parade-like protest from the sidewalk along Moyamensing Avenue. Moyamensing and Morris saw a sea of painted faces for the annual New Year's Day strut. "COVID changed stuff, we're gonna do it the right way. I don't have my mask on cause I'm talking, but I'm going to put it on when I'm done. We're going to go around and serenade the neighbors," said Tony DiCarlo of South Philadelphia. Though the Comics and the String Band associations asked that members skip this year's festivities, that didn't stop everyone.