Photo by Frank Leppard
Some 600 people turned out to join the parade in the first ever Mergate festival in Margate.
The event on Saturday (June 3) was the idea of native New Yorker and now Margate resident Daphna Rowe who hoped to bring people together and also raise funds for Rise Up Clean Up and the RNLI.
Daphna and husband Jason, moved to the isle from London in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit.
Fragrance business owner Daphna said she had been to the Coney Island Mermaid Parade and loved it. Once she found out Dreamland in Margate was inspired by the Dreamland of Coney Island, she set about organising the twin mermaid parade.
The event include a Mermaid Swim at the Walpole Tidal Pool, the Mermaid Parade from Tuner Contemporary along the promenade to Cliftonville’s Oval Bandstand followed by events at the Oval Lawns.
Daphna Pictured above) said: “The inaugural event exceeded all expectations. We knew this had the potential to be big but did not expect such an enormous response the first year. We publicised primarily through social media. It goes to show that good old fashioned ‘word of mouth’ works magic.
“We estimate roughly 600 people walked in the parade from all over Thanet and the South east including Folkestone, Canterbury, and Whitstable -even the Brighton mermaids marched alongside us! Plans for 2024 are already under way. This will absolutely be an annual event.”
