The sun came pouring down on the Mermaid Parade this Saturday. Even if the day had been overcast, all the glitter and abundance of shiny human skin were blinding. This is the annual parade at Coney Island that celebrates summer, surf, and the free spirit of the sea in full freakdom.
I spent most of the day in the parade holding area, a block long section where the marchers, bands, and floats wait penned-up until their parade number is called. Our group, the Arctic Mermaids were #278 which meant... a lot... of waiting... Our pen was closed-off to the public, save for the photographers and paparazzi. There must have been close to a thousand professional cameras there from all global sources adding even more to the brightness of the day. The Coney Island Mermaid Parade is a feeding frenzy for pictures – it might be the last great place for people to let their hair-down in the form of a public display in America. It is an equal-opportunity freak-fest running the gamut from beautiful topless nymphs with crowns of seaweed adorning their gorgeously stacked hair to senior citizens in wheelchairs dressed in grass skirts holding tridents while pushing-off to gain momentum down Surf Avenue. Of course the real treat is everything in between…from a take-off on the entire cast of “The Sopranos” called The Seapranos (something like Tony Sop. meets King Neptune in fishnets) to a school of human Seahorses, sculpted in a full-body covering of briny spiny MetroCards.
As the parade numbers got into the mid-200’s, our group pushed ahead anxiously to get released into the parade. Once freed out of the pen and onto the boardwalk, we made a mad samba march down the path in a rhythm fueled by the thousands of spectators on either side. It was like being lost and found all at once in a sea of understanding.
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