Before his scheduled appearance at Wigle Whiskey, Punxsutawney Phil and his Inner Circle pushed their way through a flurry of fans at the Omni William Penn Hotel, the groundhog’s accommodation of choice when he visits Pittsburgh.
“When we walk through the hotel, we draw a huge crowd,” Tom Dunkel, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “We can’t get through without everybody wanting their picture taken with Phil.”
City Paper previously looked into Groundhog Day’s history as a hunting festival, midwinter celebration, weather forecast, and climate change bellwether. Naturally at its center is Punxsutawney Phil, the holiday’s eponymous groundhog, who appears as a tiny, remote prophet, and (according to lore) speaks only to Dunkel, his appointed dignitary, in “Groundhogese” to communicate if he’s seen his shadow, and if Pennsylvanians can expect six more weeks of winter.
But before his big day on Feb. 2, Phil’s role is less of a deity and more that of an international pop star. To help keep Groundhog Day a free event, Phil leaves the haven of his zoo at Gobbler’s Knob — made more difficult this year after he became a dad — for a series of promotions and fundraisers. This year, the groundhog embarked on a mini-tour, visiting the Pennsylvania Farm Show and meeting state representatives, hosting a talent show, promoting Ace Hardware, and making an annual stop in Pittsburgh.
On Jan. 18, Wigle Whiskey hosted the sixth annual Phil-a-Palooza, where, for $20, Pittsburghers could get a glimpse of the prognosticating groundhog and take their picture with him. In Phil’s honor, the distillery also released Phil’s Shadow Rye, a version of its flagship rye whiskey aged in Pennsylvania-made maple syrup. Phil merch was for sale, and members of his Inner Circle — the Punxsutawney club responsible for the groundhog’s care, and for continuing the 138-year-old tradition — gave out commemorative Groundhog Day gold coins.
An A-list celebrity in Pittsburgh, Phil sells out Wigle every year. 2025 was no different, says Wigle’s marketing director Elise Miranda, who oversaw a line of 175 ticketed guests. (She’s also proud to have the Inner Circle on her speed dial.)
“Honestly, this is the most fun event we have,” Miranda tells CP. “Everyone loves Phil.”
Fans were in for a wait, and the line to see Phil stretched out the door into a cold night. Escorted by the Inner Circle, the groundhog arrived in an enclosed habitat, nestled in a bed of straw, with a baggie of veggie snacks in tow. Seeing Phil up close, it’s clear he’s not your average backyard groundhog, sporting clean, lustrous fur and well-kept muskrat-like claws.
Still, he remains “wild at heart,” the Inner Circle says, and for the first hour of the event, despite light and climate control, Phil stayed in full hibernation mode, curled up and napping like a cat. But the sleeping groundhog didn’t deter guests, who still snapped selfies next to his plexiglass enclosure.
Befitting a pop icon, multiple people tried to kiss Phil, including Tara Panella in full view of her fiancé Joe, a Punxsutawney native.
Susie Perrin, wearing a “Just A Girl Who Loves Phil” shirt and groundhog Mardi Gras beads, says she comes to Phil-a-Palooza every year. As a child, her family stayed at a cabin in Punxsutawney, and returning as an adult, she and friends organize an annual girls’ golf outing “and everything we wear is groundhog.”
2025 marks their 18th year, and groundhog-themed pants, hats, and paw gloves are obligatory.
Asked if she still gets excited seeing Phil, Perrin says, “Are you kidding? Why would I come? Oh my God, he’s just — how can you not love him?”
Part of the allure of Groundhog Day, Perrin and Inner Circle members believe, is the promise of warmer weather arriving soon.
“If you live in Pennsylvania, it gets you through the worst part of the winter,” Perrin tells CP. “And then, spring’s right around the corner.”
Dunkel and fellow Inner Circle member Rob Gemmell also like to promote Groundhog Day as “the only world holiday with a destination.”
“You can’t go to Christmas,” Dunkel says. “You can’t go to Easter or Halloween, but you can go to Groundhog Day.”
I suggest that the closest comparison might be Hajj, the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia that Muslims are required to make.
“Other than religious holidays,” Dunkel clarifies, though for some, journeying to Punxsutawney and beholding Phil seems to have a religious component. (For Pennsylvanians, a Phil-grimmage?)
In Pittsburgh, just as the first wave of spectators begins to thin, Phil stirs. The groundhog starts jumping up to be let out. Apparently, he barks when he’s excited and purrs when content. “The seer of seers!” Inner Circle member Dave Gigliott (aka Thunder Conductor) announces like a town crier.
Phil can be picked up and held like a pet courtesy of a thick hand covering that resembles a falconry glove, and people begin posing for photos with the Inner Circle (“we are kind of the sideshow to Phil,” Gemmell says) and the now-loose groundhog. Even outside his enclosure, amidst the crowd and under bright lights, Phil starts getting sleepy.
“This won’t last long!” an Inner Circle member warns.
In general, Pittsburgh loves Phil unconditionally, Dunkel says. Being only a 90-minute drive from Punxsutawney, it’s a matter of hometown pride.
Dunkel has “a good inkling” of what Phil’s weather prediction will be this year, reminding fans that, unlike in 2024, about 80 percent of the time the groundhog sees his shadow. But even if the Inner Circle “hear[s] a boo” on Groundhog Day, the Phil-mania will transcend it, and they still expect a crowd back to meet and toast him next winter.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2025.
