Welcome to Fantasy Fest!Fantasy Fest's origin dates back almost 30 years ago - the first annual event was held in 1979 and started out as a gay theme event to sort of perk up the lazy Key West days of late October. After a few local business men and women got the idea that turning it into an annual event would be good for tourism and business, the beginnings of what we now know as Fantasy Fest was born! The Festival has since evolved into a 10 day continuous gala of parades, pets, pomp, circumstance, and devilish debauchery. Only in Key West would such an outrageous display make for a comfortable backdrop to our eclectic and iconoclastic way of daily life. Bodacious Costumes, Body paint and barrels of booze are the order of the day - and week...a continuous stream of sights you won't see anywhere else. Key West Characters Key West is already internationally known for its famous and infamous blend of interesting and unusual characters - from Harry Truman to Ernest Hemingway, from Captain Tony to Edgar Allen Poe. If the walls of these watering holes on this small island could speak, well, the stories they would tell would be mighty entertaining. The Festival pays homage to this character - Galas, Costume Competitions, Parties, Fund raisers and the ever popular drag queen dramas and pampered pet parades make the last week in October an embarrassment of riches for the photographer, the voyeur and just the plain curious! The things you see during the 10 days of the Festival you just can't see anywhere else in the world. We like having it that way - and frankly 10 days of this kind of decadence is enough for the year! Festival Finale The final, fantastic finish to Fantasy Fest each year is the Goombay parade, celebrating everything that is rich, diverse and wonderfully wacky about both the festival, as well as Key West herself. Drag Queens and floats, and tens of thousands of curious onlookers, revelers, party people and locals look on as the parade unfolds in her wonderful and eccentric glory. One particular float, carrying its prized cargo - the newly elected "Conch" (Key West residents refer to themselves as Conchs) King and Queen, gets particular attention from the masses, and the transcendent luminosity and lunacy of this great annual event continues well throughout the night into the morning hours. In the days following - the spirit of her presence lingers on the Island - as people make their way home to their families, real jobs and real life - looking forward to returning for the next year - and leaving those who call "paradise" home time to bask in the reflection of another great Festival full of all of the things that make Key West the most wonderful place to call home! Festival Events include: Goombay - a street party held in Key West's Bahamas Village neighborhood. The Royal Coronation Ball- where the Conch King and Queen are crowned. The Pet Masquerade - a costume contest for pets. Pretenders in Paradise - an annual costume contest. The Masquerade March - a daytime procession through the streets of Key West. The Fantasy Fest parade - the culmination of the festival.
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