“I must be a mermaid. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.” – Anais Nin

A sea of Mermaids, Mermen and Sea Creatures  filled  Coney Island Saturday for the 34th annual Mermaid Parade.

The Parade celebrates the sand, the sea, the salt air and the beginning of summer, as well as the history and myths of Coney Island.  In hand-made costumes, everyone promenades, sashays and struts riotously down Surf  Avenue. It’s an all inclusive affair with participants from infants to octogenarians.  It’s part-fantasy, part-escapism, but all real –  celebrating  the imagination and  combining all the eccentricities and joys of artistic self-expression !

The Parade is the largest art parade in the nation and I love it and never miss it if I am in NYC.