Mermaid Parade takes over Coney
From costumes, to music, to marriage proposals, 37th annual event had it all
SEA CREATURES: The parade featured several mer-dogs, who waddled along beside their mer-owners. Nearly 750,000 people lined up to watch as the
parade advanced.
COURIER LIFE, J M BR B G UNE 28–JULY 4, 2019 3
BY ROSE ADAMS
Call it the People’s Parade
Ground!
Sea creatures, fi shy
fl oats, and marching
bands sailed down Surf
Avenue last Saturday for
the 37th annual Mermaid
Parade, where costumed
revelers wowed spectators
with their creative
performances and outlandish
getups.
“The art was awesome.
My friends haven’t
stopped talking about it
all weekend,” said Patty
Latafa, a Park Slope resident
and fi rst-time parade
goer who rode in a
military-style Jeep with
fi ve mermaid friends during
the event on June 22.
The parade kicked
off with the crowning of
Arlo and Nora Guthrie
— children of the famed
folk musician Woody
Guthrie — as the parade’s
King and Queen.
Prior to the event, the
siblings participated in a
street renaming on Mermaid
Avenue in honor
of the American music
icon, who lived on Mermaid
Avenue between
West 35th and West 36th
streets for seven years.
Following the mermonarchs’
coronation,
where Nora Guthrie declared
“this sand is your
sand,” 30 antique cars, 20
motorized fl oats, and 12
marching bands fl ooded
Surf Avenue. Behind
them strutted a tidal
wave of mermaids and monsters
from West 21st Street to
West 10th and down the Coney
Island boardwalk.
“It’s such a fun experience.
Everyone was so creative”
said Deborah Spencer, who
marched in the parade as a purple
cry baby. Dick Zigun, the
founder of the parade and selfproclaimed
unoffi cial mayor of
Coney Island, estimated that
3,000 mer-creatures marched,
and that the event drew 750,000
people total.
And this year, Cupid
hitched a ride with Neptune
for the pelagic-themed parade,
where the procession’s
judges spied not one, not two,
but three proposals from their
stand near MCU Park. Meanwhile,
Zigun offi ciated a motorized
wedding party, pronouncing
the bride and groom
“man and wife” from the
judges’ stand as they kissed on
the fl atbed of a passing truck.
“Next year I might just
scrap the parade and start
hosting weddings,” said Zigun,
who runs Coney Island
USA, a nonprofi t that produces
the Mermaid Parade
every year.
As the parade wound down,
spectators headed to a ribboncutting
on Coney Island Beach,
where the mood went from
silly to spiritual. Attendees
cut four ribbons, one for each
season, and asked the ocean’s
spirits for sunny weather and
safe swimming for the summer,
throwing fruit offerings
into the sea. This year, a Native
American shaman helped
lead the ritual.
“My favorite thing is the
ribbon cutting,” said Zigun.
FISH FOLK: Marchers in the 37th annual Mermaid Parade painted their
bodies and dawned inventive headpieces and masks. Photos by Erica Price
MERMAID MUSIC: Fogo Azul NYC was one of the 12 marching bands that played in the parade.