The Key West Fantasy Festival
Let Your Imagination Come to Life

The Key West Fantasy Festival is an outlandish and bawdy event. Let your imagination run wild and you will have some idea of what takes place at this street party. You likely won't find anything like it anywhere else in the country.

The Fantasy Fest is held yearly in October, encouraging a surge of tourists to Key West for ten days of insanity and partying. The attractions and events include parades and demonstrations of wearable art. This is not simply a festival for you to stand by and watch, visitors participate in the creation of the events and the activities.

Originally conceived as a way to boost the Key West economy during the slow part of the tourist season, the first Fantasy Fest held in 1979 was simply a large Halloween party. It has evolved over the ensuing years and is now a fall icon, drawing visitors back year after year to participate in the madness and mayhem.

The Street Fair and Other Events

One of the major events of the Fantasy Festival plays out on Duval Street just days prior to Halloween. This is a street fair with a twist, as the vendors and visitors alike come dressed in whatever costume takes their fancy. You can enjoy the crafts of locals, participate in games and sample some fantastic foods at the Street Fair.

Other events include:

• Toga parties
• Wet t-shirt contests
• Drag queen competitions
• The Goombay party

The Goombay is a two-day street party which embraces the culture of the Bahamas, recognizing the influence of the Caribbean in shaping the lifestyle of Key West. In past years there have also been drag queen contests.

If you have a family with young children, hearing all this may incline you to stay away from Key West around Halloween, but apart from the evening debauchery and adult-oriented events you'll find lots of family-friendly parades and other activities during daytime hours. The Pet Masquerade is one example of such an event, as the name would suggest, it involves people dressing up their pets for a costume competition.

There is also a humanitarian side to the Fantasy Fest. A fundraising competition is held every year with the winners being crowned the Conch King and Queen. The awards are given out with pomp and circumstance that is due at the Royal Coronation Ball.

Aside from these big events, there are plenty of attractions available every day during the festival. Key West is a tourist area rich in classy restaurants and bars. The end of the festival is marked by a last big event, the Fantasy Fest parade.

Party Rules and Guidelines

On top of all the wildness and hilarity offered by the Key West Fantasy Festival, there are a few rules you are expected to observe. Most of these relate to alcohol and drinking. For instance, you can't take an open beverage outside the "Fantasy Zone" and glass cups or bottles are not allowed.

Nudity is also illegal—although many previous festival attendees have found ways to come very close. Apart from that, your costume is more or less only limited by your imagination and the laws of physics. Many visitors to past Key West Fantasy Fest events have made some very creative use of body paint.