Mermaid Parade 2013: A Photo Diary

Parade-goers await the F Train in Coney Island

It started when we boarded an unusually crowded F car in downtown Brooklyn, and grew with each stop. Purple wigs, sequined pants, body glitter, outlandish suits, almost-birthday suits. When a resplendent group of twenty-somethings broke into a boisterous sing-a-long of "Build Me Up Buttercup," we knew we were on our way... to Coney Island, USA.

Last Saturday marked the 30th Anniversary of Coney Island's beloved Mermaid Parade, an annual tradition celebrating the Summer solstice, which invokes the festive and uninhibited spirit of Mardi Gras. In this, my seventh summer in New York, I finally made the leap with Maura to witness the revelry firsthand. In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, this year's parade was nearly cancelled. Thanks in no small part to the fundraising efforts of 2013's King Neptune, Judah Friedlander, the show went on. Come along for a vicarious thrill ride...