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JUNE 30, 2019, BROOKLYN WEEKLY
MERMAID PARADE TAKES OVER CONEY
From costumes, to music, to marriage proposals, 37th annual event had it all
BY ROSE ADAMS
Call it the People’s Parade
Ground!
Sea creatures, fishy
f loats, 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 first-time parade
goer who rode in a
military-style Jeep with
five 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 late 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 floats, and 12
marching bands flooded
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 self-proclaimed
unofficial mayor of Coney
Island, estimated
that 3,000 mer-creatures
marched, and that the
event drew 750,000 people
total.
And this year, Cupid
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.
hitched a ride with
Neptune for the pelagicthemed
parade, where
the procession’s judges
spied not one, not two,
but three proposals from
their stand near MCU
Park.
Meanwhile, Zigun officiated
a motorized wedding
party, pronouncing
the bride and groom
“man and wife” from
the judges’ stand as they
kissed on the f latbed of a
passing truck.
“Next year I might
just scrap the parade and
start hosting weddings,”
said Zigun, who runs Coney
Island USA, a nonprofit
that produces the
Mermaid Parade every
year.
As the parade wound
down, spectators headed
to a ribbon-cutting 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.