The creatures of the Atlantic Ocean will shimmy up the beach and onto the boardwalk on June 21 as the 43rd annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade returns to mark the unofficial start of summer in Brooklyn.
Around 5,000 participants are hard at work sewing together their homemade costumes and finishing up their lavishly-decorated floats, according to Coney Island USA, which hosts the event each year. They’ll be accompanied by marching bands, drill teams, and antique cars — plus thousands of spectators.
Billed as the largest art parade in the country, the Mermaid Parade is a celebration of “ancient mythology and seaside ritual,” according to Coney Island USA, and is one of the borough’s most beloved traditions.
Every year, participants build and rebuild their glittering floats and costumes to fit new themes and stories. At the end of the route, they show off for the judges — who confer and award prizes for the best floats, costumes, and musical groups.
For some, taking part is pure fun. Longtime participant Ricco Rodriguez, for example, builds the Tractor Pirates float almost singlehandedly every year before his friends and family gather to finish up the fine details hours before the parade.
Others are using the glittering procession to convey a more serious message about protecting Coney Island, the beach, and all its inhabitants from pollution and climate change. But no matter what, marchers say the Mermaid Parade is a symbol of real New York tradition and joy.
Last year, Jan Aiello — who marched the route with her husband and son and their two puppets, both meant to warn about environmental destruction — told Brooklyn Paper the parade was “the antidote to that 21st century despair.”
At the head of the procession, rolling through the route in an antique wicker chair, will be this year’s Neptune King and Mermaid Queen, Eugene Hütz and Queenie Sateen.
“Our King and Queen this year are two amazingly talented and artistic New Yorkers,” said Coney Island USA artistic director Adan Rinn, in a statement.
Hütz is a singer from the band Gogol Bordello, which “basically created Gypsy punk,” Rinn said, while Sateen is a longtime fixture of the local club scene with a new solo single to be released just after the parade.
“We’re so excited to welcome these two boundary-pushing artists as our royalty,” Rinn said.
The 2025 Mermaid Parade will kick off on June 21 at 1 p.m. The route starts at the corner of West 21st Street and Surf Avenue, rolls down Surf Avenue to West 10th Street, then turns down to the Boardwalk where it ends below the Parachute Jump.
Tens of thousands of spectators attend each year, and all New Yorkers are invited to dress up and take part in the parade. Advanced registration closes on Tuesday, June 17, but latecomers can register in-person on the morning of the parade starting at 10 a.m.
And all participants can take part in judging and try to win one of a series of awards for best costumes, best floats, and more. Bribery is not just allowed, but encouraged, per the Coney Island USA website, as a chance for “a little extra creativity.”
After the parade, participants and spectators alike can follow Rinn, the Mermaid Queen and the Neptune King down to the beach for an annual ceremony where they toss fruit into the ocean as an offering and mark the officially-unofficial opening of the beach for the season. The celebration will continue through the night at the ticketed Mermaid Parade Ball at the Sandbar on Surf Avenue.
