[title]
UPDATE 6/17: The 39th annual Mermaid Parade is officially happening on Sunday, September 12, rain or shine. Festivities will kick off at 1pm on West 21st Street and Surf Avenue and will then continue onto West 10th before heading south to the Boardwalk and back west at Steeplechase Plaza, where the parade will come to a conclusion.
---
We don't know exactly when yet, but the annual (and iconic) Mermaid Parade in Coney Island is officially happening in-person again this year. According to Brooklyn Paper, the event will take place late this summer or early this fall.
Non-profit arts organization Coney Island USA would ideally like to host the parade before Labor Day, but given the NYPD's limited capabilities and the West Indian Day Parade happening on actual Labor Day, that might not be possible.
Either way, a whole lot of New Yorkers dressed as King Neptunes and Queen Mermaids will parade across Surf Avenue in the very near future.
The event has been delighting over 600,000 spectators since 1983 but, given the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers decided to go virtual last summer.
This year's festival will also probably look slightly different than what you're accustomed to. You can expect the famous costume contest to still happen but, perhaps, a smaller crowd to be present during it. Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun, told Brooklyn Paper that they are planning on a more diluted advertising schedule in order to reduce overall attendance and ease the spread of the virus.
The news comes just a few weeks after the re-opening of beloved Coney Island amusement parks for the first time since 2019, a development that was met with much enthusiasm by both locals and politicians hoping to kick-off the economy following a year-long shutdown.
Clearly, Coney Island is the place to be this summer. While there, you might also want to stop by the New York Aquarium to check out the newly-opened “Spineless!” exhibition, where you will get to peek at a whole lot of invertebrates, including a Japanese spider crab, the largest living arthopod in the world.
Fill out our excellent (and extremely quick) Time Out Index survey right now, and have your voice heard.
Want to know what’s cool in the city? Sign up to our newsletter for the latest and greatest from NYC and beyond.