Welcome to mermaidsonparade.com. Home of Norfolk, Virginia's Mermaids on Parade!

Mermaid Store

Mermaids on Parade Picture BookThere Goes A Mermaid-A Norfolk Tale
As seen in Southern Living Magazine! Fact and fantasy are woven together in this engaging new folktale of Norfolk Mermaids.


The Mermaids and YellowJack: A Norfolk Tale - by Lisa SuhayThe Mermaids and Yellow Jack-A Norfolk Tale
As seen in Southern Living Magazine! Children's author Lisa Suhay has written a another tale that captures the imaginations of readers young and old.


Harvest and Azalea Mermaid House FlagMermaid Harvest Flag
Bring the Mermaids to your home or office with this limited-edition, collectible, harvest house flag benefiting the Virginian-Pilot JOY FUND.


 

Welcome to Mermaids on Parade!

Mayor of Norfolk Paul Fraim Mayor Paul D. Fraim, November 2000
Folklore tells us that mermaids are whimsical, fun, water-loving creatures who have been known, on rare occasions, to adopt a person or town.

We have turned the tables on that folklore — in Norfolk we have adopted the mermaid — first as a celebration of how far we, as a city, have come in the past four decades — and then, as a way to celebrate and support our very talented and deserving regional arts community. More than four dozen charitable and arts organizations have benefited from the Mermaids on Parade auction.

Thanks to the creativity and hard work of Peter and Bess Decker, who conceived the Mermaids on Parade project and have been its leading lights, we have had the pleasure to see our city transformed. Colorful mermaids on corners and in fountains prompt comments from visitors and lifelong Norfolk residents who want to know more about the mermaids and more about us. Only the Deckers could have made this dream a reality.

Enthusiasm for this project has expanded beyond the borders of Norfolk. A sponsor in each of the seven cities comprising Hampton Roads has adopted a mermaid. As mermaids journey to Virginia Beach or York County, it reinforces our sense of being as one community.

None of this would have been possible without the citizens, sponsors, artists, the business community, city employees and others who made the Mermaids on Parade, and the Mermaid Arts Benefit Auction, possible.

The success of Mermaids on Parade is a cause for celebration each day.


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