During Fantasy Fest, party goers flock to Key West for 10 days of wild Mardi Gras style fun in the sun. The 10 day festival is filled with parades, street fairs, exotic costume parties, toga parties, body painting, and bead exchanging ala Mardi Gras style. Despite the estimated 70,000 party goers, there is a safe and friendly island vibe. Held at the end of October near Halloween, this annual event is the erotic carnival of the Florida Keys.

TOP 10 LIST OF THINGS TO DO

1. Join the amazing Masquerade March.
2. Be weird, zany, erotic, sensual, or just be.
3. Step on the wild side and get Body Painted.
4. Don a bizarre or scandalous costume.
5. Enter a sexy Homemade Bikini Contest.
6. Go Greek at the Sloppy Joes Toga Party.
7. Go bar hopping and do the DUVAL CRAWL.
8. Beads, boobs, and more beads.
9. Behold the incredible Pet Parade and Masquerade.
10. Witness the extraordinary Fantasy Fest Parade.

KEY WEST FANTASY FEST
The festival begins with the Goombay Celebration in the Bahamian Village. Goombay is a Bahamian traditional style of music and instruments. The Goombay Celebration is spirited Caribbean spiced street party that starts on Friday and continues until Saturday.

Tuesday evening, the city barricades off three blocks of Duval from Caroline to Front Street. This is when things start to heat up and the fun begins. Costumed patrons with beads in hand take to the street for the first main night of revelry. Crowds are typically wild, but good spirited and not overwhelming in size. Like Mardi Gras, during Fantasy Fest sparkling bead necklaces act as currency in a bare breasted bartering system. Whoever originated this idea I would love to shake his hand and buy him a beer. Brilliant!


Captain’s Tip : Fantasy Fest is not for the shy or timid. Be prepared for risqué costumes, body painting, and a lots of skin



On Wednesday, don’t miss the WKEY PET MASQUERADE & PARADE. Wyndham Casa Marina Resort is the host for the annual WKEY PET MASQUERADE & PARADE. The citizens of Key West (Conchs) are known for their eccentricities. Would you expect anything else from a Conch pet? Conch pets are characteristically calm, mild mannered animals that are well adapted to island time. I have personally seen dogs panhandling, bellying up to a bar, and even riding piggyback on their owner while on a bicycle. This engaging event couples together dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles with their loving owners in astounding costumes. Contestants are judged in the following categories: most exotic, best theme adaptation, pet and owner look-a-like and the junior division. This event is good clean fun for kids of all ages. Arrive an hour early for a seat, or arrive on time to stand in the back.

Once again in the evening three blocks of Duval get shuts down. This time the crowd grown larger and more lively. Stunning ladies volunteer their beautiful skin as living canvases for dazzling artistic portraits. Astonishing airbrushed designs are painted on topless or fully nude females. Popular body painting designs are tigers, leopards, fish, celestial bodies, articles of clothing, and the patriotic United States flag. Wednesday is also the evening of the Hog's Breath Homemade Bikini Contest. Creativity abounds at the Hog’s Breath as these beauties piece together teeny weenie bikinis. In previous years bikinis have been created from caution tape, vines, feathers, sea shells, and whip cream. Cash prizes are given away for the following categories: originality, difficulty, and sexiness.

On Thursday night the streets are lined with eager partiers. Many head to the Sloppy Joes Toga Party wearing nothing but a thin bed sheet. Greek Gods and Goddesses congregate in Key West for this fun and exhilarating affair. It’s a packed house at Sloppy Joes as this annual event draws celebrity judges and cameras from cable television networks. Cash prizes are given away for the following categories: best group/couple, and first place male and female. The Green Parrot also hosts a costume party on Thursday night.

Friday afternoon at 5 PM the Masquerade March begins at the Key West cemetery. Masqueraders sport costumes ranging from the innocent to the very naughty. The Masquerade March splits separately in two groups, joining together again on Duval Street and marches towards Front Street. Organizers have responsibly planned out numerous first-aid stations along the parade route offering aid in the form of beer or rum and punch to the thirsty marauders. Friday night the crowds have grown larger and the large congregation around Green and Duval makes it difficult to maneuver. Body painting and the beads for boobs campaign is in full swing. Booze flows through the streets like the rain from a tropical down pore.

Saturday at noon a street fair fills Duval Street with mouth-watering ethnic foods, and clever homemade arts and crafts. Costumes and body painting now are integrated during daylight hours. The excitement is growing in anticipation for the climactic Fantasy Fest Parade. Hours before this anticipated event, eager patrons begin to line up for the perfect seat behind barricades along the parade route. The parade route starts by the Green Parrot at the corner of Southard and Whitehead. It continues west on Whitehead, then north on Front Street and finally east on Duval. The parade includes dancers, costumed marauders, and dozens of elaborate floats. Thousands of Mardi Gras beads are thrown into the enthusiastic crowd each year. If you have never witnessed a parade like this before then Captain Ryan guarantees that you are in for a treat.

After the parade has concluded, the street barricades are removed along with the energetic crowd’s remaining inhibitions. This carnival like party is now raging like a barn fire into the wee hours of the morning.

FANTASY FEST TALES
Protecting Paradise
During Fantasy Fest, it is not unusual to see symbols of American pride and patriotism in the Southernmost city. In 2001 just one short month after 9/11 tragedy, Key West Florida hosted Fantasy Feast 2001. Security was tight in preparation for the worst but the celebration went off without a hitch. The Key West Police Department (KWPD) who’s motto is “protecting paradise”, was mounted on horseback to control the streets as thousands of revelers showed up to party Conch Style. When using horses for crowd control, bags are commonly placed on the horses buttocks to catch manure before it falls onto the street. In true Conch spirit, the KWPD mounted patrol sported photos of Osama bin Laden’s face on the manure bags over top the horses’ asses. This fitting mix of humor in a time filled with anger and grieving, brought thunderous cheers from the thousands of patriotic on lookers.

Girls Gone Wild
One Fantasy Fest, we made our way to Smathers Beach for a day of fun in the sun. Smathers Beach is a manmade stretch of sand that is frequented mostly by tourists. The beach is sandy, but I rarely have seen many swimmers due to an abundance of seaweed. The day was perfectly sunny and without cloud in the sky. At first, it appeared to be an ordinary day at the beach. There was a fair amount of sun worshipers. There was parasailing over the ocean, a family digging in the sand, and a game of beach volleyball being played. As we staked out the perfect spot on the beach, we laid our beach towel down and began to apply the appropriate SPF. Just as I got comfortable, I glanced to the right and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were four beautifully stunning females shedding their bikini tops and robustly applying oil to each others bronzed bodies. Was I dreaming? Could this be true? Someone please pinch me, can this be real?

To my amazement this was not a dream. Much to my delight, a Girls Gone Wild type video was being shot on the very same beach that we had come to that day. Festively, I exclaimed “Goombay” with great relish. With my eyeballs bulging out of my head, I fumbled for my camera. Discreetly, I slithered through the sand for a better look. Beads of sweat were forming on my brow as the sun glimmered high in the sky. As I got closer to the spectacular display, the delightful foursome was now topless and I caught that whole scene on video. What seemed like hours probably was only about five minutes. Suddenly, the video director yelled, “Alright girls, great job…that’s a wrap“ and they proceeded to pick up their belongings and prepare to leave. As one of the lovely ladies was leaving the beach, she had noticed I had a camera and was also filming the scene. The stunning brunette bombshell wearing just her thong walked pass me on her way off the beach. My mouth was like cotton from the intense heat of the sun and nervously I couldn’t speak. She kindly asked me if I had enjoyed their little show and gave me a wink of her eye. I mustered up all the courage I had and struggled to reply. “Yeah, um…great show” I stuttered. At that point my mind went completely blank. I then regretfully stated the first thing that came to mind, “You look thirsty, want some Gatorade“. She smiled, kindly declined, and walked away.

FANTASY FEST 2007 SCHEDULED EVENTS
FREAKS, GEEKS AND GODDESSES by www.fantasyfest.net

FANTASY FEST DATES & THEMES
Fantasy Fest 2001 Secrets of the Zodiac
Fantasy Fest 2002 Mystical Mornings, Monstrous Nights
Fantasy Fest 2003 Daze of Futures Past
Fantasy Fest 2004 Delirious Dreams and Hilarious Screams
Fantasy Fest 2005 is October 22 nd-31 st Freaks, Geeks, and Goddesses
Fantasy Fest 2006 is October 20 th-29 th
Fantasy Fest 2007 is October 19 th-28 th
Fantasy Fest 2008