Lavishly decorated floats, costumed characters, bands and elaborately garbed marching groups are to make a splash on Key West’s Duval Street Saturday, October 29, during the Captain Morgan Fantasy Fest Parade. The glittering parade is the traditional highlight of the annual Fantasy Fest masking and costuming celebration, set this year for Friday, October 21, through Sunday, October 30.
Tens of thousands of spectators are expected to throng Key West’s historic downtown for the parade. Floats and costumes are to showcase the 2011 festival theme of “Aquatic Afrolic,” with organizers encouraging entrants to draw inspiration from real and imagined denizens of the deep, shipwrecked seafarers, mermaids’ mayhem and undersea worlds. Many entries typically include music, moving parts and elements that tower over the crowd.
Standouts in the 2010 parade included a "1600 Insanity Avenue" spoof of politicians' antics, a flock of giant multicolored cuckoos, a quartet of 15-foot-tall walking puppets and a devilish wedding float whose two riders were legally married during the parade.
Fantasy Fest’s 2011 pre-parade activities begin at noon Saturday with the open-air Duval Street Promenade. Promenade vendors are to offer masking and costuming finery and accessories as well as food and libations, while live entertainment adds a high-energy flair to the festival frolic. The parade begins at 7pm.
The following day, while revelers rest, a spook-tacular event for kids is to close out the festival. Set for noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, October 30, the traditional Fantasy Fest Children’s Day is a family event featuring food, arts and crafts, games and a costume contest in Bayview Park, located at Truman Avenue and Eisenhower Drive.
Event information is at www.fantasyfest.net
For Key West visitor information visit www.fla-keys.com/keywest or 1-800-LAST-KEY.
For more information about top events in Florida take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in Florida.