From the Phil Collins Day parade in 2011. (Photo by Katie Sokoler/Gothamist)
In just a couple of days, the patron saint of drums and vox, Phil Collins, will be celebrated universally. Locally, the annual Phil Collins Day celebration (observed on February 15th) will take place in Rockaway. (In previous years there have been confessional booths and parades in Greenpoint.) According to the Phil Collins Day website, this year there's a "Take Me Home" theme serving as a nod to those hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy, and in an email this week organizer Heather Feather told us:
"As it turns out I moved to Rockaway shortly after Phil Collins Day last year. Found a big wonderful place to live by the sea. Moved here with some creative partners in hopes of being part of a close knit community. We were, like the majority of the peninsula, hit pretty badly by the storm; house destroyed, lost all of my tools, garden, etc. And the past three months have been one of recovery and rebuilding. Rockaway is strong. And it is the resilience of this community that keeps us all together.
This year, at the end of my block on 112th, we will be celebrating Phil Collins Day in full form. We will be serving hot chocolate and hot cider and hot catharsis in the form of a drum circle. People are encouraged to dress warm, and bring their own percussive instrument."
