Nothing marks the start of summer in the city like the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. This Saturday’s festivities will feature thousands of mermaids and other elaborately dressed creatures.
Here’s a look, by the numbers:
- 35:The number of years ago that the parade was first held (in 1983). “It was started because the art community in the neighborhood couldn’t afford a permanent building,” says Dick Zigun, 65, the founder of the parade and the unofficial mayor of Coney Island. “We decided one day a year we would take over the entire neighborhood and make a big statement about what an arts organization could do.”
- 35: The number of years that Zigun has worn his famous top hat in the parade. This year, he’s finally replacing it with a new one. “Instead of looking like a hobo leading the parade in a beaten-down weathered top hat, I’m in a brand-new one and look like a real mayor and Mr. Moneybags in Monopoly,” he says.
- 4: The number of ribbon gateways, one for each season, that the parade’s celebrity king and queen — singer Amanda Palmer and her husband, author Neil Gaiman, this year — will cut along the route. The last and most important, of course, is summer.
Norman Blake- 50: The number of celebrities, typically, that turn down the request to be king and queen before someone says yes. “You have to talk famous people into doing it for free and that’s hard,” says Zigun.
- 800,000: The number of onlookers expected at the parade on Saturday. “[It’s] bigger than the city of Boston,” says Zigun.
- 5,000 to 10,000: The number of participants in the festivities. “The first parade had more people in it than watching it,” says Zigun.
- 250: The number of judges, roughly, that will select winners from among them. “Our judges are inebriated, inept and incompetent,” says Zigun. “We encourage the parade participants to bribe the judges, because we have fun and don’t take ourselves that seriously.”
The 36th Annual Mermaid Parade; Saturday, 1 p.m.; Coney Island; ConeyIsland.com
Comments
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy