What happens on Groundhog day?
Each year, the day revolves around a ceremony which is held at daybreak in Gobbler’s Knob, Punxsutawney.
The Groundhog icon, known as Punxsutawney Phil is the reigning mammal who is tasked with making the seasonal prediction.
He is looked after throughout the year by a select group called the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, who also plan the annual ceremony in Pennsylvania.
On the day Phil the groundhog is helped up to the top of the stump and is thought to communicate with the president of the Inner Circle in a language known as ‘groundhogese’.
In this mysterious language, Punxsutawney Phil shares his verdict with the president of the Inner Circle (the only person allegedly able to understand groundhogese).