The 2017 Coney Island Mermaid Parade
photo by Amanda Hatfield

pics from the 2017 Coney Island Mermaid Parade

A rainy morning had mermaids and onlookers alike sheltering under awnings and storefronts along Surf Avenue and the boardwalk, but that didn’t stop the 35th annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade, which brought around 3000 revelers to the beach on Saturday (6/17), where Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie presided over the parade as this year’s Queen Mermaid and King Neptune.

As usual, many participants used the occasion to let their freak flag fly, with common costume themes including pasties, scales, tentacles, glitter, and seashell bikinis. Some got political; Gays Against Guns chanted about gun control, a couple of mermaids with garbage-bag costumes carried signs reading “Trash Grabs Back,” and a few groups referenced climate change. Others referenced pop culture; there were at least three sets of Handmaid’s Tale mermaids, many Wonder Women, a few Babadook, a Princess Leia, and an Alice in Wonderland themed group, among others. Check out lots of pictures of the Mermaid Parade in the (NSFW) gallery above.