Mark Megahan
Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 18, 2022. That’s the big day for Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade. Because New York requires it, you must show a vaccine certificate to attend. Other than that, practically anything goes.
Mermaid Parade a local tradition
This will be the 40th running of the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island. It starts at West 21st Street and Surf Avenue, then will roll east to West 10th Street before turning south toward the boardwalk.
Cars and floats split off from the rest there, while marchers and push-pull floats turn west and follow the boardwalk.
When everyone meets back up at Steeplechase Plaza, the Mermaid Parade will disband. Along with the floats will be a whole herd of antique cars.
The event is known far and wide as a “completely original creation of Coney Island USA.” It’s billed as “the nation’s largest art parade and one of New York City’s greatest summer events.”
Besides being a fun street party festival with lots of Mermaid themed eye candy, it’s also a “celebration of ancient mythology and honky-tonk rituals of the seaside.”
Each year, 3,000 or so “creative individuals” come out “from all over the five boroughs and beyond.”
Art, spirit and pride
The Mermaid Parade is a great way to kick off the summer with “incredible art, entrepreneurial spirit and community pride.” Organizers say it “highlights Coney Island Pageantry based on a century of many Coney parades.”
Not only that, it celebrates “the artistic vision of the masses and ensures that the summer season is a success by bringing hundreds of thousands of people to the amusement area in a single day.”
When the Parade was founded in 1983 they had three specific goals. At the top of the list is bring mythology to life for local residents who live on streets named Mermaid and Neptune.
It also creates “self-esteem in a district that is often disregarded as ‘entertainment‘ and it lets artistic New Yorkers find self-expression in public.”
Unlike most parades, event sponsors promise, “this one has no ethnic, religious, or commercial aims. It’s a major New York holiday invented by artists!” What they were really aiming for is an “American version of the summer-solstice celebration.” The mermaid theme fits in well with “West African Water Festivals and Ancient Greek and Roman street theater.” The best part is all the hands on participation.
“This creates an artistic framework on which artists can improvise, resulting in the flourishing of frivolity, dedication, pride, and personal vision that has become how New York celebrates summer.“
