If we’re counting down the last few days of the year, that can mean only one thing to any red-blooded resident of the Philadelphia area.

Time to strut.

But the last couple of years, a little bit of the glow of the annual Mummers Parade up Broad Street has been diminished by the city’s financial crunch.

Last year city officials let it be known that the Mummers would be on the hook for any costs incurred by the city.

This year it was expected to be the same song, if not the same strut.

Never fear. City officials and representatives from the Mummers are planning a news conference for noon at which they will lay out the deal that will allow the strutting to go on uninterrupted again this year.

Imagine a New Year’s Day without the Mummers?

Like them or loathe them, the Mummers are one of the quintessential Philly events. Like the cheese steak and hating the Dallas Cowboys, the Mummers are in our blood.

Welcome back, our fine feathered friends.