The array of planned events runs the gamut from grand and glittery to fun and funky. Also on Oct. 22, the Fantasy Fest king and queen will be crowned at a coronation ball at the Key West Hilton Resort and Marina. Among the other zany events coming up is the Masked Madness and Headdress Ball on Oct. 26. That's followed the next day by the WKRY Pet Masquerade and Parade in which pets are expected to dress as people and vice-versa. The festival's premier costume competition, Pretenders in Paradise, is scheduled Oct. 28 at the Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa.
Key folks take the costume competitions seriously.
It was constructed on a wheelchair frame to enable D'Antonio, who portrayed a pirate inside the shipwreck, to propel it more easily. Among other things, it featured 5,000 yards of stringed sequins. In all, there are more than a half-dozen costume competitions, including one whose contestants must wear homemade bikinis. Then Saturday night comes the festival's show-stopper. More than 60,000 people are expected to jam downtown Key West for the Fantasy Fest Parade, a procession of floats, dancing groups and bands.