The 2017 Venice Neptune Parade - Hail Summer! Hail Venice! Hail Yes!!!

Last Saturday was just about the best Venice day ever. After the sadness of Abbot's Habit's closing party the night before, everyone was ready to have some fun, and remember what Venice is all about. It was June gloomy out, though, and many were dealing with the vicious hangovers that come with drowning deep sorrows like a local institution closing forever. We were going to have to dig deep to rally if we were going to officially declare it SUMMER in Venice at this year's Neptune Festival. So that's exactly what we did.

I was deeply honored and humbled to be asked to be the Queen of this year's Neptune Fest, along with Jeremy Marco as King Neptune. This has been a very heavy year for many, myself included, and the opportunity to ring in Summer in the name of Venice was just the bright spot I needed to look forward to - and it did not disappoint.

My Mom - the Queen Mother - came in from Minnesota and created a royal robe fit for the Queen of the Mermaids. My dear friend Stephanie Hobgood came in from the Valley and gave me the mermaid hair of dreams. My dear friend Kimberly Jackson came in from Wabi Sabi (where she is the "Door Diva") to bedazzle my eyes with an enchanting mermaid sparkle glow for the occasion. My dear friend Rebekah Ozier created a masterpiece of a Queen Neptune crown that was so spectacular I felt transformed the instant I put it on. It even had shells from our beach in Venice on it! It is truly Venice Historical Museum worthy.

While we were busy getting me all dolled up for the parade, the sun began to ease its way out. By the time we left (very late!) for The Sidewalk Café for the pre-party, the skies had turned entirely blue, and the stage was set for our Summer Solstice Festival.

We arrived to cheers and applause, and I was immediately given a shot that turned my personal tide for the much better. We took photos and marveled over the wonderful costumes that were showing up, and you could tell that we were all ready to blow off some steam.

These events always take place on Venice Standard Time, which is to say it's not exactly "sharp". Ever. Think of it kind of like Island Time. A crowd was building up outside, as they had been told 3 p.m., and it was well past time to march down the Boardwalk. The royal conch shell was blown to rally the Merpeople, and we processed out of The Sidewalk Café.

We were greeted by shouts from the crowd, and I almost cried to look around and see all the wonderful Venice faces from my past and present, there to join me in declaring it Summer - the very best time to be here in Venice.

There was a brief ceremony to pass down the royal scepters from the previous King (Jeremy Parker) and Queen Neptune (Dakota Rayfield, filling in for Kaycee Smith, who was at Primus. I get it.), where we humbly accepted our royal duties.

It was important to me that my little kid friends would attend this year, because that is the way to keep traditions alive. Those little buddies having these awesome Venice memories will ensure that they want to carry them on when they grow up. The little boys and girls dressed up too, and jockeyed for position to carry a piece of the hem of my robe down the Boardwalk. It was precious, and they were probably the highlight of my entire day.

Once about a zillion photos were taken, it was time to march to the sea! The Venice sign was unfurled over our heads, and King Jeremy and I led the parade on down the Boardwalk. The entire crew chanted the whole way to the water, yelling, "HAIL THE KING! HAIL THE QUEEN! HAIL VENICE! HAIL SUMMER! HAIL YEAH!" at the top of our lungs as we walked.

Apologies to the street performers down there whose acts we interrupted, but you have to admit, it was a pretty awesome sight to behold. A whole town of friends and families marching together through the crowds at the beach, to show them what the Spirit of Venice means. The delighted faces we passed, the cameras being whipped out to capture it all, and the willingness to join in was the very best.

We stopped for more group photos, and all the colorful attire and surroundings made for some all-time great shots. It couldn't even be helped.

The parade carried on past the V statue, and on to the Venice Skatepark. Skaters joined in the chanting, and we exchanged the raised fists when it got to "HAIL VENICE!" As one should. Out across the sand we went, with the little kids picking up the chant at one point. You could tell they thought they were getting away with something a little naughty when they yelled "HAIL YEAH", and it was the most adorable thing ever to hear in their high little voices. I keep smiling every time I think about it.

Once down by the Breakwater, it was time to disrobe and enter the sea to officially declare it SUMMER in Venice!

 

The water has warmed up quite a bit, so this part of the tradition was not at all torture. King Jeremy scooped me up, I raised the trident, and BAM! It was Summer!!!

I encouraged everyone to join us in the water, and several gamers braved the waves with us, in the name of Neptune! We had a little bathing beauty photo shoot, and I couldn't stop beaming when I saw all the effort and creativity that had gone into the fine costumes of the day. We even had real mermaids!

Back on land, it was time for the official speeches and declaration of Summer. I barely remember what I said, but I know it was heartfelt and very difficult for me not to well up and start crying, both from the sheer happiness and joy of the day, but also the sadness that the Venice we know and love is becoming more unrecognizable every day. I know that I said that events like these - and the PARTICIPATION in them - are what will ensure a cool Venice for the future. I know that I said "We are all still here!" because I looked out and saw everyone I knew, and if I didn't know them yet, I wanted to.

Because these are the very best parts of what we love about Venice. The FUN. The ART. The CREATIVITY. The SPONTANEITY. The COOL. The DIFFERENT. The MUSIC. The FRIENDSHIP. The LOVE. It's all I felt, all day long.

Once I finished rambling on, King Jeremy took the official royal proclamation, and read it with gusto to make it all officially official. Once the words had been spoken, we both took the royal conch shell and blasted it to let all know, far and wide, that it was SUMMER IN VENICE!!!

The cheering and chanting carried on all the way back to the Sidewalk (with brief pit stops to greet our subjects at The Townhouse and the new Surfside - formerly Danny's Deli - it looks nice). The group had re-assembled in the back of the bar in the Sidewalk, and were now being entertained by former kings Jeremy Parker and Masao Miyashiro, giving us their punk jams. It was just so fun.

It was like a big, long photo shoot all day, and every one I've seen shows nothing but happy smiles all day. You really couldn't help it, there was just so much fun being had. The appreciation for Venice and its People was tangible all day long, and I can't get over that I got to lead it all this year.

Eternal thanks to the Neptune Committee for choosing me to represent the fair citizens of Venice and Neptune this year! It will absolutely go down as one of my very favorite life memories, and I hope that goes the same for all who were there in attendance and solidarity. It was a classic day, and a classic weekend. One that shows just how very powerful the spirit remains here in our beachside Community. Forever. You could just feel it.

HAIL VENICE! HAIL SUMMER! HAIL YEAH!!!

THANK YOU, EVERYONE!!!

Love, Your Queen Neptune '17 ... Ceej xoxoxo

*Photos by Paul Gronner Photography (the Queen Brother)

A Venice Summer Solstice Go Skate Neptune Festival Father's Day

If you wanted to show off Venice to someone new, yesterday was the perfect day to do it. The sun was shining brightly from the very beginning of the day - no June Gloom for the Summer Solstice! This put everyone in a festive mood from the get-go, so the whole town was coursing with a party atmosphere ... Summer was officially here! Well ... not officially until King Neptune said so.

It was Go Skate Day 2015, so the Venice Skatepark was going off all day long. Booths were set up for merch, raffle tickets were being sold, and everyone and their brother and sister were out skating.

The day was jam packed with fun stuff to do, but you can get sucked in pretty easily when there's so much good skating and people watching to do. It was good to see a bunch of girls and women getting into the mix in the bowl, with one gal showing how it's done wearing only a bikini. Brave.

There were giveaways all day, music pumping, and prizes given out for best tricks. It didn't seem like anyone really cared who won, because we were all winning by just being alive on such a perfect Summer Sunday.

I watched the skating and chatted with friends as long as I could before I had to race over to The Townhouse to meet friends for long overdue drinks, and did that for as long as I could before I had to zip on over to The Sidewalk Cafe for their Solstice Party and to meet up with The Neptune Festival partiers.

King Neptune Masao Miyashiro and Queen Dakota Rayfield led their royal court (and anyone who cared to join) in a procession from The Sidewalk Cafe to the Breakwater, where they would emerge from the sea to declare it officially the start of Summer.

The chant of "Hail The King! Hail The Queen! Hail Summer! Hail Venice! Hail Yes!" was repeated over and over as the costumed revelers brought the party out on the sand.

We all stopped at the Skatepark to blow the conch shell at the skaters and pick up more people to head to the water with us. Cameras were everywhere as tourists were pleasantly surprised at this perfect Venice spectacle passing by in a big cacophony of fun.

Mermaids and pirates and hula hoopers and drummers whooped it up and encouraged everyone to join in the infectious fun, as royal pages carried the Venice sign across the sand.

Once at the water's edge, the King and Queen got into the water where they then emerged shouting the proclamation that NOW it was indeed Summer.

This news was met with hearty cheers, and you could plainly see the delight on the faces of every single face that shared in the festivities. This is exactly the kind of tradition that makes Venice so fun, and the community so stoked to call it home.

I had to bid farewell to the Neptune Festival goers and skip the after-party back at The Sidewalk because it was also Father's Day, and the friends were gathering to celebrate the Dads in our gang.

The kids put on a dance show ...

We all played a good old fashioned game of cards ...

Brats were grilled, icy cold beers were consumed, and the longest day of the year ended with great friends talking and laughing around a fire.

And THAT is how you kick off Summer in Venice, California! May it be the very best one yet for everyone, wherever you may be.

The Summer Venice Art Crawl - Fresh Air, Fresh Art

The Summer edition of the Venice Art Crawl was held last night, and - per usual - it was a total blast. My bike is out of commission so this one was done on foot, and man ... there's a lot of ground to cover. We did really well, but still only got to hit about half of it. And it was awesome.

We started off on Abbot Kinney, since that's closest to my house, and it was fun to see some ladies painting outside of the Ohm Salon, while we were deciding if we had time for a quick drink at Wabi. We did not. Not if we wanted to see as much art as we could, and we did.

The Aust store had art by Francesco Masci and tunes by the Cerny Brothers ... and PBR's.

Heading toward the sunset, we passed by the old Anjela Shoe Repair shop, only to be stopped in our tracks by the darling new store in that space, L'Angels. Hand chosen by Andy from the shoe repair shop, the store features 100% work by L.A. artists and creators. Excellent.

Just about my favorite thing I saw in the entire Art Crawl were the jewelry pieces in there by Venice local, Susan Rich. She has taken chips off of the Venice Graffiti Walls and turned them into rings and necklaces. They are so cool I can't stand it. Get in there and see for yourself.

Cruising on up the boulevard, we stopped in to see my friend Peta at Wylie Wilson, where they were featuring smooth jazz and art by John Cesar - and all her wonderful lingerie creations, all made about six blocks away. These are the places that are actively keeping the spirit of Venice alive on Abbot Kinney, and they are the places locals should support. Period.

We crossed the street to see the exceptional work of Fin Dac at the C.A.V.E. Gallery. It's really impressive pieces depicting beautiful Japanese women, like the one on the wonderful new mural up the street.

My favorite piece in there was one of those women done entirely in Italian (Venice) mosaic. So cool.

Another highlight of this Crawl was in the magical space behind the walls of the Ecole Claire Fontaine on Abbot Kinney. There were about ten artists displaying in there, and a bunch of adults playing on swings and climbing trees. It was adorable in there, and showed a lot of good art too (we especially liked the pieces by Audrey McNamara). I'd never been in there in all these years, so it was nice to see the place where so many of Venice's little ones have learned their first lessons.

The Beach House next door featured the art of Alon Goldsmith, and a lot of super cute, super expensive beach lifestyle stuff. And a cool video projection floor.

We zipped in to say hi at In Heroes We Trust, checking out their latest vintage finds quick and checking out the party.

Onward we sped ... the Sole Bicycles garage had a packed house for the art of Isabelle Alford-Lago and her big apes. That one was quite the party, but we couldn't stay because we wanted to get over to Small World Books and check that out. Too late, they were already closed.

The Sidewalk Cafe was real fun, and great because they were showing the fantastic work of our friend, Christina Adshade.

I'd only ever seen her art online, so to see the detail and talent behind it up close was impressive. Plus they were playing old Guns 'N Roses, guys from The Sons Of Anarchy were there, and so was the Tree Man. That's a good Venice hang right there.

From there it was off to Gotta Have It, as most of the other venues were wrapping up by then. DJ Redbeard was playing o.g. reggae and dancehall, and I loved every single note he spun. Great party jams.

The art on display was by Bethany Richards aka Pink Riches. Her art and her style were both extra groovy.

Enjoying a beer with the crew there, we checked the map - and the time. We still had over half to see and no time to do it. I think next time I might have to begin on the Washington Boulevard end of things, because I never seem to make it that far down. Too much art to see is an excellent problem to have, however. The crowd spilled out on to the sidewalk, like parties of yore, and we all remarked how we loved the Art Crawl so much, because it reminds of how First Fridays used to be ... with music, and drinks, and most importantly, everyone you know.

We accepted our fate of only getting to half, and decided to console ourselves back over at Wabi Sabi. As we traipsed back over to Abbot Kinney, we passed an enormous, flowering cactus. As my friend Mario was with me, and we had just had a triumph of saving and sharing an endangered cactus that very day, we felt it was an appropriate artistic display to finalize the art portion of our crawling with.

We toasted a great day, a great crawl, and the fact that we got to see so much of that fresh art, in the fresh Summer air.

As ever, thank you so much to all the incredible people that put this celebration of our local artist together every time. It's such a gift to the community, and well ... just fun as hell.

See all you crawlers again in September! (the 17th. Mark your calendars.)