Rising Stars: Meet Angie “Lady Aine Seastar” Braithwaite

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angie “Lady Aine Seastar” Braithwaite.

Hi Angie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have always loved mermaids and I was a child long before Splash or Disney’s Little Mermaid came out. The Peter Pan mermaids were the first mermaids I was exposed to. One day in 2014 I met the Mermaids of the Great Salt Lake at a Faire.

I was so excited to see them. Not only did I find out that there were mermaids out and performing but I could be the size I was and be a mermaid. A couple of weeks later, they held a contest to be a mermaid for a day and I won. I learned how to swim in a mermaid’s tail and then got to be a mermaid at a Run for Life event.

I became a regular mermaid with them and a couple of years later the leader of the group retired and put me in charge.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s not all fun and games being a performing mermaid, especially when you have a large group and most of our work is for tips only. There are clashing personalities, people who do very limited work were set up and torn down, and many people who don’t understand that you should tip your mermaids. But all in all, I do love doing it.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the owner and manager of the Mermaids of the Great Salt Lake.

We are the first and longest-running group of performing mermaids in Utah. We allow all types of mermaids in our group regardless of age, gender, size, color, or ability. We appear at conventions, faires, magic shows, burlesque shows, Pride events, drag shows, personal parties such as birthdays, bachelorette parties, and weddings.

We have been lucky enough to appear at Fan X, Wizarding Dayz, Dragonfyre Faire, Ogden Fantasy Faire, Renaissance Festival, Snake River Comicon, Fairy Festival, Infinite Possibilities, shows for Scixxy’s Greater Events and Ogden Pride for multiple years. We can appear at wet and dry events.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Unfortunately, as performers/entertainers, we have felt the effects of COVID, both personally and professionally. Please know that the safety of everyone is a priority to us. We are vaccinated and currently wear masks to anything we are hired for.

Many of our events didn’t happen last year and some of them have completely ended. I also had 2 strokes last year which slowed us down for a couple of months, so we are looking for new events to be part of.

Contact Info:

• Email: mermaidsofgreatsaltlake@gmail.com
• Instagram: @mermaidsofgreatsaltlake
• Facebook: facebook.com/mermaidsofthegreatsaltlake

Image Credits: Photo credit for the rainbow candy environment and for the large group photo goes to Linda van Dijk of Van D Photography in Sandy and photos taken at Studio o2o in Draper