BY JESSICA PARKS
Coney Island’s famed Mermaid
Parade will return for
its 39th rendition on Sunday,
Sept. 12, organizers announced
Thursday.
News of the nautical arts
festival’s revival comes after
organizers told Brooklyn Paper
in April that there would
likely be an in-person event
this year after bringing the
event online in 2020, though
the parade would be held later
in the year to close out the
summer, instead of serving its
usual kickoff in June.
Despite the different date,
most of the Mermaid Parade’s
old traditions will remain —
albeit with some social distancing.
Onlookers can still
expect to see King Neptune
and Queen Mermaid, and Dick
Zigun, founder of the arts nonprofi
t Coney Island USA, previously
COURIER L 24 IFE, JUNE 25-JULY 1, 2021
told Brooklyn Paper
they hope to again host the
parade’s popular costume contest,
to be ruled over by its
“inebriated, inept, and incompetent”
panel of judges.
This year’s King Neptune
and Queen Mermaid will be
Emmy Award-winning director
Tony Gerber and playwright
Lynn Nottage, and
the pair will roll through the
parade on an antique wicker
Boardwalk Rolling Chair that
Coney Island USA says dates
back to 1923.
The parade will start
around 1 pm at W. 21st Street
and Surf Avenue and continue
east to W. 10th street, where
it will turn south toward the
historic Riegelmann Boardwalk.
Marchers and push-pull
fl oats will then turn west on
the boardwalk and heard towards
W. 17th Street and later
Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade is a site for quirky, creative costumes. Photo by Erica Price
disband at Steeplechase Plaza.
Cars and motorized fl oats
in the parade separate from
marchers before they turn
onto W. 17th Street and instead
continue on Surf Avenue.
Immediately after the parade,
Zigun will lead the King
and Queen procession from
Steeplechase Plaza through
the Maimonides Park parking
lot for a ceremony on Coney Island
Beach that will offi cially
close the summer lifeguard
season.
The parade’s date, which
Zigun said in April hinged
on the city’s recovery from
the pandemic, comes just after
New York State reached a
70 percent fi rst dose vaccination
rate on June 14, prompting
Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lift
nearly all COVID-related restrictions
across the state.
Coney Island’s namesake
nonprofi t arts organization
launched the beloved Mermaid
Parade in 1983 as an ode to the
neighborhood’s own Mardi
Gras celebration, which was
held from 1903 to 1954, and to
showcase the wacky and weird
spirit of the area. The annual
event promotes Coney Island’s
entertainment industry while
celebrating the mythology behind
Mermaid and Neptune
avenues — all while raising
awareness of an often-forgotten
district in New York City,
according to organizers.
Sea you in
September!
Mermaid Parade lives on
Traffic is a
pain, take
the train!
Beaches are back! Take the train or
bus to Coney Island and support local
businesses this summer.
Visit LetsGoSmart.nyc to plan your trip.