The crowd gathers around in the cold, waiting for a marmot to come up from a stump. To some it may be crazy, but to others, it’s Groundhog Day.

Every year on February 2nd, people gather around in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil will come up and let the people know if spring will come early that year according to legend.

Attending this event is on many peoples’ bucket lists, right next to skydiving. In recent years the event has grown, with 10 to 15 thousand tourists coming to see it, especially on weekdays, while the town only has 6000 residents. Tom Chapin, who has covered the event for the loacl newspaper for over a decade, has described the event as being like a rocket concert, expect that “the people are better behaved and there’s a groundhog involved”. He also says that “There’s music and entertainment, spoofs of game shows, and people shooting T-shirts and Beanie Babies in the crowd”.

The origins of Groundhog day start with the Romans, where legend has it that they believed that the first few days of Febuary were good predictors for future weather, and they also looked to hedgehogs for their forecasts.

These two traditions came together in Germany, and were then brought over by German immigrants who moved to Pennslyvania. They didn’t have hedgehogs, so the German settlers substitued native groundhogs, and Groundhog Day was born.

The first official Groundhog Day took place on Febuary 2nd, 1887. It was the “brainchild” of Clymer Freas who sold a group of buissinuessmen and groundhog hunters on the idea. The men went to a site called Gobbler’s Knob where the inaugural groundhog saw his shadow.

Now, the event is presided over by the Inner Circle, a band of local dignitaries who wear top hats and “conduct the official proceedings in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect”. These men also (supposedly) speak to the groundhog in “Groundhogese”.

So on Febuary 2nd, remember to check in with Punxsutawney Phil as he announces whether we will have six more weeks of winter or the start of spring!