By Adam Rosenberg From Mashable

It’s June 22, the first Saturday after the official start of the summer season. And just like they do every year, revelers gathered in New York’s Coney Island for another round of Mermaid Parade celebrations.

Since 1983, the annual Mermaid Parade has come to Coney Island every summer with three major goals (according to the FAQ): to “bring mythology to life for local residents who live on streets named Mermaid and Neptune”; to “create self-esteem in a district that is often disregarded as ‘entertainment'”; and to “let artistic New Yorkers find self-expression in public.”

Those are big ideas, but the reality of how it all plays out is evident year after year. Tens and hundreds of thousands visit the southern Brooklyn neighborhood dressed in garish colors, sparkling sequins, and so, so, sooooooooo much glitter.

Self-expression takes so many forms when it comes to the Mermaid Parade, but it all generally comes together under a broad notion of “freedom.” The festivities end on the Coney Island beach with a pageant that celebrates the best-dressed partygoers for the year.

There’s also an annual queen and king; the 2019 duo are Arlo and Nora Guthrie, children of the legendary singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie. Saturday’s parade kicked off with an official renaming of a local Coney Island street as “Woody Guthrie Way.”

As usual, it’s the pictures that tell the whole story. So take a few minutes to look on the 2019 Mermaid Parade in all its glory.

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