Fantasy Fest Parade- Part I

October 26, 2008





Fantasy Fest Parade- Part I

Mark & Wendi



Pirates, Pundits, and Political Party Animals was the official theme for Fantasy Fest this year and it brought forth a variety of politically themed floats and costumes. In fact, in the 18 years since I first attended Fantasy Fest back in 1991, I don’t believe politics has ever been incorporated into the theme. With the hotly contested Presidential election only 10 days after the festival, people went all out in skewering their favorite politicians.



Janine, Gae & Kathy

Our float was once again the brain child of the ever inventive Rick Keith. Our float was a military theme as we were Soldiers of Love bringing forth Weapons of Mass Affection. Our support for Barack Obama was evident as well as we had huge Obama signs incorporated into the float vehicle.





Saturday of Fantasy Fest dawned overcast, hot and steamy. The torrential rains of the past week created a super-high humidity and there was an ever-present threat of more rain, but thankfully it never materialized. We spent the day making final adjustments to our camouflage garb costumes before heading down to the parade marshalling area at Truman annex.



The floats line up in order during the day on Saturday, this year we were number 55 out of 64 entries, meaning that we have plenty of time to wait after the official start of the parade at 7 pm. This is one of my favorite times of the day as we have the opportunity to walk around and see the other entries and see many of our friends.

Todd & Celia



There were a bunch of excellent floats this year. Among the best were Key West Burlesque’s wonderful circus theme float and what eventually and deservedly won the overall first prize: the Dragon float that was put together by our friend Dana over at Mama Flowers and the Dragon boat folks.

Arlo

Esme



As always, we were placed in the line-up with our friends from Lazy Dogs/ Hurricane Hole. They had another great float with a 70s disco political theme taken from the recent film/play Mama Mia, called Obama Mia. David Richard who had spearheaded the Lazy Dog effort since its inception has moved on from Key West and was missed, but his legacy lives on through the efforts of the Lazy Dog crew.

Obama Mia



The other good thing about the pre-parade is the excellent lighting that the setting sun provides, giving about perfect conditions for photos for about 15 minutes or so. I took a ton of photos this year, and it was tough to select just a few to represent all the mayhem that is Fantasy Fest. I am once again breaking up my Fantasy Fest entry into two postings to try to include as many as possible.



Autumn