Red Hook got walloped by Sandy on 10/29/12, but the spirit that was most visible at the one-year anniversary, the Sandyversary, was moxie and mirth.

Cheeky illustrations popped up in a few places.  There are a lot of chicken coops in Red Hook, and chicken jokes and costumes abounded.  References to the Great Chicken Rescue conducted by the gals of the winebar home/ade Monica Byrne and Leisah Swenson, appeared on their store window, on Heba Deli's next door, and the bartender’s costume at the Red Hook Volunteers Party.  The first Barnacle Parade was organized on short notice and occured without official permits. Since then, it has permits. Satirical costumes ridiculed the insurance industry, referred to blown out transformers, jerry jugs, diesel oil spills, and Gowanus Canal overflow. A float depicting a generator loomed over it all. A huge, blue tarp, shaken by a dozen people, was a lo-fi illustration of Sandy’s flood waters.  

The parade has evolved. It now gets permits.  There is an annual them determined by the "parade committee" who also makes the main (and  extraordinary) float.  The route has changed. Since the pandemic it is (see image below)

The Red Hook Star-Revue, our local paper, has more of the origin story: The History of Red Hook’s own Barnacle Parade, October 5, 2019

The Barnacle Parade has both a Facebook and Instagram page (the IG page is more up-to-date)

A related story in Red Hook WaterStories is: Unveiling of Atlantic Basin Sandy High Water Mark Sign & Red Hook Sandy Flood Map: October 30, 2019.  The unveiling took place right before the start of the Barnacle Parade that year. 

In 2020, the year when COVID disrupted the status quo, the Barnacle Parade, took on the theme of Climate Justice.  PortSide broadcasted a live view from within the parade on Facebook.