Guppies, fishermen, mermaids and even Dwight Gooden will swim their way through a South Bronx neighborhood Saturday to celebrate the 11th annual Hunts Point Fish Parade.
The festivities have grown like a puffer fish as hundreds of revelers dressed in sea-themed outfits flounder, flop and flamenco their way along the mile-long parade route from Hunts Point Riverside Park to Barretto Point Park.
“It’s a summer kickoff for the neighborhood,” said Danny Peralta of the Point Community Development Corp., a neighborhood nonprofit that helps organize the tradition.
Inspired by the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, the fest launched in 2004 as a welcoming party for the Fulton Fish Market when it relocated to Hunts Point from Manhattan.
Local celebs, food vendors and DJs will join Yankee and Mets legend Gooden, the South Bronx Kings Baton Twirlers, Open Hydrant theater troupe and the PS 48 marching band.
And even though Dante and Chiara de Blasio will be caught in the net of fun known as the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island Saturday youth will be on full display in the Bronx.
Keeping with this year’s theme, “Celebrating Youth Power,” students and teachers of Public School 48 will serve as Grand Marshals of the Fish Parade and be honored for their work on the Hunts Point Slave Burial Ground Project. The group spent years researching and gathering support in uncovering the history of the slave cemetery in Drake Park.
“We’re very conscious of the fact that young people here are leaders and they make do with what they have,” Peralta said. “And the parade is a reflection of that spirit.”
Prizes for the best costumes and floats will be awarded at the all-day festival after the parade, organizers said.
The 66-year-old activist and daycare owner Eva Sanjurjo, who has lived in Hunts Point her entire life, will help kids get into the spirit by making multi-colored fish hats.
“There’s music and speeches and the community gets together,” said Sanjurjo, adding that she believes the Bronx celebration trumps its Brooklyn counterpart. “We dance, we talk, it’s a great walk. Ours is better.”
The 11th Annual Fish Parade and Summer Festival, June 21, 10am-5pm, kick off at Hunts Point Riverside Park
