Nearly 300 mermaids lined Lake Michigan for Mermaid Megafest

SOUTH HAVEN, MI -- Despite the persistent rain and high-water levels throughout the week, South Haven’s Harborfest still drew a crowd.

In high attendance were this year’s scaly, sparkly guests -- 279 mermaids.

Harborfest joined forces and hosted the second annual Mermaid Megafest. Last year, the sirens of the sea descended upon South Haven on Memorial Weekend in an attempt to make the Guinness World Record.

Although they’re still waiting to hear if they made history, last year’s count was an impressive 407, event organizer Rosalie Plechaty said.

Beyond the beautiful seashell crowns and handmade tridents, what excites Plechaty the most is seeing children interacting with the mermaids and enjoying the beaches of Lake Michigan, she said.

As the Mermaid Megafest evolves Plechaty said she hopes it continues to be rooted in environmental initiatives.

Coming from all corners of the United States and even internationally, many of these mermaids came with a message. Saturday night’s events included environmental speeches about cleaning up waterways and beaches.

Marine biologist and professional mermaid instructor Lila Jones grew up loving Disney’s “The Little Mermaid." After earning a marine biology degree and becoming a certified diver in Maui, Hawaii, Jones decided to spread awareness in a flashy, fun way.

“Our waterways, whether it’s fresh water or salt water, they need that type of attention,” she said. “If you can volunteer for a nonprofit to raise awareness in a mermaid tail, it catches a lot more attention than somebody standing in a T-shirt.”

She jokes that it’s a little bit of a bait and switch to draw people in with the elaborate costumes and then give them a dose of reality about the harmful effects of sunscreen chemicals and single-use plastic.

However, she’s been surprised by the way mermaid culture has evolved since she started her mermaid training company, Mermaid Dream Retreats, in 2015.

“A lot of the people who are coming into being mermaids are not just doing it to be in a tail and play around,” she said. “They want to actually learn about the environment and have that guidance. That’s been kind of mind blowing for me to see."

One driving factor in this is that Instagram has made mermaid culture even trendier, Jones said.

The silver lining is that constantly scrolling through gorgeous underwater or beachfront photos can spark meaningful conversations.

Jones said she frequently receives Facebook messages about viral photos or videos of people interacting with wildlife and asking what’s harmful and what’s not.

“We’re not only coming into the next generation of those who will be caring for the Earth after us," she said. “It’s also the next generation of mermaids. With this growth we’re having a lot more education.”

Those one-on-one moments are coupled with larger presentations and events, like Mermaid Megafest, where Jones spreads awareness about the dangers of octinoxate and oxybenzone, or benzophenone-3, which are active ingredients in most sunscreens.

In Hawaii, sunscreens with these ingredients have been banned after the chemicals started a ripple effect of bleaching coral reefs, leaving them vulnerable to diseases and eventually killing them off.

As an alternative, Jones suggests using mineral-based sun protection. This can be tricky to find because some companies have used the coral reef effort as marketing tool despite still having harmful chemicals in the sunscreen, she said.

Jones encourages shoppers to check the back of their sunscreen label and look for active ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

The festival also drew activists who are doing good on land. The Indiana-based company Mermaid Straw put a social media call-out for a bring-your-own-bucket impromptu beach cleanup on Sunday morning starting at 10 a.m.

Lisa Harrington, co-founder of the eco-friendly flatware company, said she and her team walked the beaches of South Haven before setting up their booth on Saturday and left with handfuls of straws and other single-use plastic.

“We saw all the plastic pollution on South Haven’s beaches and we were blown away and devastated by it," Harrington said. "We felt like we couldn’t leave without doing anything.”

Locally, South Haven’s Cafe Julia has started a similar initiative. The restaurant’s “clean new deal” provides buckets outside of the cafe for patrons to take with them to pick up trash while walking on the shoreline. When they return with a full bucket they can ring the bell and receive a sample pack of gourmet cookies.

Mermaid Megafest activities continue from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m on Sunday, June 16 at the Old Harbor Village with a Circus Siren Mermaid Show and mermaid painting classes at 1 p.m.

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