The Mermaid Day Parade, Coney Island, Brooklyn, NYC, Earth.

What is The Mermaid Day Parade? Where is Coney Island? (IS it an island?!) Why do you go? Who goes there? Will you march? Why or why not?

And what the hell is it all about?

The Mermaid Day Parade. It could be like the word you know in your native tongue but has no translation. It could be the sixth sense. Nonsense. It might be something "you have to be there for." A joke. In all seriousness. Maybe you have to be from Brooklyn to understand it. Or from nyc. Or have grown up eating it to be able to make it, to describe it, to imbibe or digest it. Maybe it's something in the water. Like a bagel that won't be a bagel made with California water. Or maybe it's an acquired taste. Like black salty licorice or raw artichokes or sea urchin.

The Mermaid Day Parade. Like a tattoo, addictive. Permanent. Sexy. Wild. Tame & Silly. Underground. Amphibious. Insane. Wacky, like a "nut-job," a "head-case," a " what the fuck were you thinking?"

The Mermaid Day Parade. Hot, sticky, bad junk food, steamy steam table corn-on-the-cob, beer, splinters from the boardwalk, sunburn, toplessness, glittery bodies, leather and spandex and rubber and body paint, primary color dyed hair,

queerness, machismo, drugs, money, sex, violence, pay-by-the-hour-motels, cotton candy, red candy apples, litter, broken glass, hip hop at the loudest decibel, salsa and meringue in the afternoon, boom boxes, crass men and slutty women, bikinied pregnant girls, fags, Guido's, spics, kikes, dykes, dogs, snakes, parrots, bare-feet, hipsters, trans-fags, fatgirls, Russian princesses, spoiled brats, hairy legs and armpits, face-lifts and fake tits, fried clams, greasy french fries, The Polar Bears, Bridge & Tunnelers,

con-men, prostitutes, single mothers, absent fathers, dirty sand, dirtier water, cigarette smoke mixed with staid salty air, tar sticky logs, volleyball nets, tiaras, fake eyelashes, tight shirts, matching outfits, cornrows, crewcuts, pierced and jewelryless.

The Mermaid Day Parade is everyone and every fetish and everything. It's babies in swimsuits and boys in tutus and marching bands, real or imagined. It's political and apathetic, in your face and subtle.

But most of all, The Mermaid Day Parade is just that. A parade of all things above and below the salty waters from any shore on every continent. Mermaids and crustaceans, fish and whale, crab and lobster, shark and pirate, sailors and sirens.

Come as you are. Come dressed up. Come done up or tossed together. No matter.

But come with an open mind. Sunscreen. Hungry, and thirsty. Be ready to get dirty or see dirty. Prepare for loud and crowded, colorful and abrasive, alluring and seductive, historical and gentrified.

I got it into my head that I would make it this year. And I did. Sometimes if we try really hard, dreams can come true.

This year The Mermaid Day
Parade celebrated its 25 year anniversary! I hope, that if you've never been, or even if you have, you can make it there one year. It is indeed, a sight to behold.

Comments

[Lydia]

Shuna, thanks for the photos! I haven't been to the Mermaid Parade in many years. Looks just as much fun as ever.

[Aaron]

That was a beautiful post. I still wouldn't be able to tell someone what the parade is, but I "feel" like I know what it is. I guess that's the power of evocative writing.

[TBTAM]

Great photos! Can't believe I'd never heard of this till now. Next year I am THERE.

[excelsior]

"Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail,
"There's a porpoise close behind us and he's treading on my tail."

See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance
They are waiting on the seashore -
Won't you come and join the dance?

- Lewis Carroll

[Kevin]

Hi,

We thought that some of your Mermaids might be interested in seeing our Mermaid isle in Ireland. Here's our website:
http://www.mermaidisle.net

Regards,
Kevin