Groundhog Day is happening yet again – here’s the full story of Punxsutawney Phil and an odd tradition
Get yourself to Gobbler’s Knob and prepare to meet Punxsutawney Phil – it’s time for Groundhog Day 2025.
If you don’t know what any of that means, have no fear. There’s absolutely no real reason why you should have to.
But you would be missing out on one of the most bizarre, charming and cute traditions on the Atlantic seaboard of the USA.
You also, presumably, have missed out on one of the greatest high-concept fantasy romcoms ever made – but who’s to say which of those is worse?
Here’s everything you need to know about Groundhog Day.
What is Groundhog Day?
Groundhog Day has its roots in the folklore of the Pennsylvania Dutch, an ethnic group with German origins in the US and Canada who have their own language and strong traditions.
One of the group’s superstitions dictates that if a groundhog (also known as a woodchuck) emerges from its burrow on February 2 and sees its shadow, it means there will be six more weeks of winter.
If the groundhog does not see its shadow, good news: spring will arrive early.
Similar beliefs involving different animals that tend to hibernate over the winter exist around the world, but it’s the Pennsylvania Dutch version that’s best known.
Wherever groundhogs live in the US and Canada, people will gather today to see their reaction when they come out the ground. But most of the focus will be on one place in particular.
Who is Punxsutawney Phil and what role does he play?
The best-known ambassador for Groundhog Day is Punxsutawney Phil, who resides in the Pennsylvania town after which he is named.
Phil is the town’s own weather-predicting groundhog, and if you believe his handlers, he has been alive for around 140 years.
Each year on February 2, he swaggers out from his burrow at Gobbler’s Knob and whispers to a man in top hat and tails whether he’s seen his shadow, in a language termed ‘Groundhogese’.
That man – the president of the Inner Circle, as he is known – will then announce the result to a cheering crowd.
If all that sounds unbearably twee, then you have a kindred spirit in Phil Connors, the cynical weatherman played by Bill Murray in the 1993 classic Groundhog Day.
He is sent along to the Punxsutawney ceremony along with his cameraman and producer for a tiresome news item, but ends up living the same day over and over again.
The film brought global attention to the Pennsylvania town and the tradition itself – and if you’re not planning to mark it in any other way, it’s never a bad idea to give it another watch.
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