Fantasy Fest Parade

October 31, 2010

Fantasy Fest Parade



Scott, Inga & Wendy

Jumping in mid-parade was a bit disorienting at first, but Kathy & I quickly gained our bearings and it was business as usual as the parade headed around the corner on Whitehead Street down Front Street and on to the main drag of Duval Street. We had somewhere just under 200 people with our group, mostly familiar faces and friends. Our ranks were swelled a little since neither our friends at Lazy Dog or Cayman Smith-Martin organized floats this year.

Kathy



Elizabeth & Michael

There were still over 56 entries and by the time the parade reached us, it was already in the slow-going mode that has evolved the past couple of years. The going was very slow on Duval Street as floats got backed up while passing the media stop in front of the La Concha and at the judging stand just past Truman.

Autumn & Suzyjo

Todd & Lisa

None of it mattered much to our group, who had no organized routine or structured placement of riders, the only instruction was for the pairs of the anARKey float was to try to stay together as much as possible. The results were mixed, with some pairs doing a great job…and others (like us) not doing such a great job.



Jacqueline



It was tough to try to keep track of Kathy as well as to try and photograph the chaos. Also the 5 kegs of beer and two port-a-potties kept people flocking on to the float through-out the evening. Having two actual port-o-lets was a new experience and a far cry from the old bucket of years gone by. In fact this year’s float was top notch all around.



Carla & Kathy

Michael

The crowd was huge, but it definitely seemed to be down from previous years. There were a few gaps and even along the main drag, the depth of viewers was nowhere near what I have seen in past years. The good news was that the crowd seemed way better behaved than it has of late. We saw far less overt nudity and graphic sexual depictions, especially compared to last year.







What we did see was our friends having a great time, other than a few minor personality dramas which are to be expected on a float with 200 people drinking for hours, the parade and our float going off with-out a hitch. People seemed to love our theme and I know the people on the float had a great time. Kathy & I were really glad that we made the decision to join in once again. Watching the parade is fun, but nothing comes close to actually participating.





Bethany & Eliza

Rick threatened, as he does every year, that this was his final year doing a float. The entire event is moving away from its fly by the seat of your pants, anything goes mode of the past and becoming much more corporate and structured. Long-time Parade coordinator Judy Bradford is retiring after this year and changes are coming.



We sure hope that maybe Rick will reconsider and that the funky spirit that he brings to the parade will not be lost, but whatever happens I want to thank Judy, Rick, Steve, David, Hutch and all the collection of kooky folks we call our friends for 15 magical years and an Ark-full of incredible experiences and memories.

Fantasy Fest Pre-parade and Party

October 31, 2010

Rick



Eric & Jacqueline



Fantasy Fest Pre-parade and Party

The largest and most anticipated event of Fantasy Fest is the culminating huge Saturady night parade. This year marks the 20th straight year that I have participated or attended the parade which attracts over 60,000 tourists to join the locals for the finale of the massive week of partying. I have been involved with our friend Rick Keith’s float for about 15 of those years because of the creative themes and fun people who he attracts each year.









Initially this year Kathy sort of wanted to take a year off from being in the parade and some friends had invited us to their parade viewing party at the Mel Fisher Museum that they had rented out for a private viewing party. I was gung-ho to do the parade, especially since our former Key West friends, Eric & Jacqueline, were back for the float festivities from their new home in Washington State.

Steve



Celia & Todd

How to be in two places at once is always an issue with the crowded social schedule of our island home, but I came up with an inventive solution. We would split up initially, I would go to the float staging area to participate in the pre-float activity which is always one of my favorite things to do. Something about seeing all the floats in their final stages of prep and all the riders arrive all decked out is cool to me.

Rick & Steve



Carol



Kathy headed straight to Mel Fisher to join our hosts Graf & Eileen at their viewing party. Just before the parade actually started, I headed over to join that party and actually watched the first 34 floats as they passed by, then we both would jump into the parade as it passed. The party was less than half-way through the parade route and that way we still got to experience the best of both worlds.





Rhett & Melissa



It worked to perfection. Our float this year was a play on Noah’s Ark- A giant ark that Rick and friends built by hand around a boat trailer that was populated by 2 of each sort of Key West character. Thus we had two Jimmy Buffets singing, two Capt. Tonys, two lionfish, two Green Parrots, two trolleys, two taxis, two chicken catchers and chickens etc. Some of the group could only be identified by locals familiar with very specific Key West characters such as the Frisbee Guy or the guy that runs in the red hat. Having such inside jokes may have been lost on the vast majority of the crowd, but the locals loved it.



Erika







Kathy & I being exhausted and out of time from our busy week, choose to re-cycle our popular Plutonian outfits from the float four years ago. This time we were “Illegal Aliens”, who are a large part of the character of Key West, but generally aren’t from anywhere as exotic as Pluto.