The 44th Annual Mermaid Parade turned Coney Island into a moving street theater of mermaids, sea creatures, floats, fire, bubbles, music, and handmade spectacle on Saturday, June 20, 2026.
Produced by Coney Island USA, the parade once again filled Surf Avenue with the mix of pageantry, humor, local pride, and public art that has made it one of New York City’s defining summer events. From Nathan’s Famous to the Cyclone, the route became a stage for costumed performers, families, artists, titleholders, musicians, dancers, dogs, and spectators who came dressed for the start of summer.
Founded in 1983, the Mermaid Parade celebrates Coney Island’s long tradition of invention and spectacle while opening the summer season for the amusement district. Coney Island USA describes it as the nation’s largest art parade, and the 2026 edition carried that spirit through every block: part costume contest, part public performance, part neighborhood ritual, and part reminder that Coney Island still knows how to make the street feel unpredictable.
The strongest moments came from the handmade details. Paradegoers built entire identities out of shells, pearls, sequins, coral, body paint, parasols, tridents, fish heads, jellyfish forms, axolotl colors, sculptural headpieces, and ocean-themed props. Some costumes leaned polished and theatrical, while others carried the kind of funny, homemade charm that belongs to Coney Island. Together, they gave the parade its texture.
Outside Nathan’s Famous, @kingtitanyc brought one of the day’s most dramatic scenes, breathing fire as a large orange flame cut across the frame with the landmark hot dog signs behind him. Nearby, a giant soap bubble performer created a wide iridescent bubble that stretched over the parade route, catching the light and the crowd’s attention. Roller skaters, dancers, musicians, and float performers kept the movement going between the more formal parade groups.
That local identity came through in the humor as much as the landmarks. There were Brooklyn Cyclones references, Knicks basketball hoop costumes, Heinz ketchup and mustard looks, an Old Bay crab costume by @lilmisslixx, and a handmade “Straight outta CONEY ISLAND” sign. The City Reliquary Museum’s Miss Subways banner added another New York layer, connecting the parade’s sea creatures and performers to the city’s history of transit, pageants, and public characters.
The parade’s costume culture also had room for sharper artistic statements. Machine Dazzle appeared in a reflective silver sculptural coral costume, bringing the kind of high-concept costume design that fits naturally inside the Mermaid Parade’s anything-goes format. @hardybrooklyn.nyc carried an environmental message through body paint reading, “NO MORE EXTINCTION OR WE’RE NEXT,” turning a sea-creature look into a warning about the future of the natural world.
Portraits along the route showed the range of the day. @vitanibeauty wore an elaborate pink fantasy costume with a jeweled silver headdress, butterfly details, pearl chains, and flowing cape panels. @summersparkles__ stood out in a white sculptural sea-creature costume. @caramiahorrorlesque brought a horror-theater edge with monochrome face paint, a red contact lens, black lipstick, and sea-themed earrings. @fionaodellbradley leaned into a red-and-white boardwalk pinup style, while @crackheadbarneyandfriends__ brought hot-pink mermaid energy with bold face paint, mirrored sunglasses, and a wild blonde wig.
The parade also worked because it never belonged to only one type of participant. Families walked beside performers. Children wore mermaid tails and crowns. A small dog appeared along the route in costume. Miss Brooklyn 2026, Giovanna Ward, appeared in a blue sequined dress, sash, and crown. The Findyhoppers brought music and group movement, while other groups carried banners, instruments, floats, props, and signs.
Some of the best frames were not the loudest. A large costume group spread across the street showed the collective energy of the parade: wigs, sequins, feathers, inflatable props, pink costumes, theatrical makeup, and people performing for the camera as much as for the crowd. A gold deep-sea diver walking with a handmade ocean float, surrounded by plush sharks, dolphins, crabs, shells, and mermaids, captured the parade’s love of built objects. The official Mermaid Parade banner, held by costumed participants, gave the day its formal marker before the route dissolved again into color and motion.
By the time the parade moved through Coney Island, the line between participant and spectator felt loose. People on the sidewalks dressed for the day. Cameras turned in every direction. The boardwalk food references, sports jokes, pageant crowns, sea creatures, and handmade props all pointed back to the same idea: the Mermaid Parade is strongest when it feels like everyone has permission to become part of the scene.
From Nathan’s Famous to the Cyclone, from Miss Subways to a giant soap bubble floating down the route, the 2026 Mermaid Parade showed Coney Island at its most theatrical. Its strength was not only in one crowned figure, one float, or one performance, but in the thousands of small acts of invention that turned Surf Avenue into a shared stage.
More Photos From the 44th Annual Mermaid Parade
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See the Full Mermaid Parade Gallery
This is only a preview. A Fixed Moment photographed many more participants at the 44th Annual Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, including extra portraits, alternate images and high-resolution photos from the parade.
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