Coney Island Comes Alive With The Mermaid Day Parade

Mermaids do exist and Coney Island, a New York neighborhood, came alive with its annual 37 ^th Mermaid Day Parade as over 800,000 "merpeople" took to the streets Friday to celebrate the ancient myth and fictional sea-beings.

The young and old, irrespective of gender and age, clad as semi-aquatic merpeople marched through Surf Avenue on West 21 ^st Street and headed to West 10 ^th Street, through Broadwalk and ending at the Steeplechase Plaza.

The Brooklyn Eagle said this year’s event was marked by Arlo and Nora Guthrie, the children of acclaimed folk singer-songwriter and icon Woody Guthrie -- as King Neptune and Queen Mermaid. The parade’s founder, Dick Zigun, said the siblings will be the first king and queen to have grown up on Coney Island’s Mermaid Avenue.

Zigun said he came up with the parade and Coney Island USA in the early 1980s as a way to honor the art community. The official web portal for the event says the Mermaid Parade is a celebration of ancient mythology and honky-tonk rituals of the seaside. It showcases over 3,000 creative individuals from the five boroughs and beyond, opening the summer with incredible art, entrepreneurial spirit and community pride.

“The parade highlights Coney Island Pageantry based on a century of many Coney parades, 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,” it said.

The executive director of Alliance for Coney Island, Alexandra Silversmith, said having the Guthries as king and queen highlights Coney Island’s vibrant past -- according to Brooklyn Eagle. He said it touches the island’s history:“It acknowledges a major part of music history with Woody Guthrie.”

The CNN said Zigun modeled the parade after international summer solstice celebrations. The parade featured colourful artistic costumes with people on gigantic floats, dance groups and music. Coney Island attracts thousands of people from all over the world to its Mermaid Parade every year.