After two years of being unable to hold in-person editions because of Covid, the Coney Island Mermaid Parade returned for its 40th edition on Saturday (6/18). The afternoon's weather -- chilly, windy, and overcast -- didn't exactly portend the start of summer, but that didn't stop over 3,000 merpeople of all sorts from making their way down Surf Avenue and the boardwalk, and many more from coming out to watch, cheer them on, and join in the celebration of creativity, nautical mythology, fertility, and letting ones freak flag fly.
Mx Justin Vivian Bond (as Queen Mermaid) and former NYC health commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi (as King Neptune) led the procession, and participants wore a wild assortment of elaborate costumes, featuring everything from fins, feathers, floral headpieces, and shells, to pasties, jewels, sequins, and glitter. Along with mermaids, mermen, and merpeople, all sorts of sea creatures were represented, and some marchers got political, with costumes championing abortion access and environmentalism.