The World’s Smallest Parade

 

October 24, 2021

The World’s Smallest Parade

Fantasy Fest 2021 is destined to be a unique and very different experience from any that have gone before due to the cancelation of so many of the traditional tentpole events due to the Covid pandemic. With some of the best events including Goombay, the Zombie Bike Ride, Masquerade March and Saturday Parade all gone, it was anybody’s guess what the week would actually be like.

In some cases, such as a cool event held at Nelson English Park on the Saturday when Goombay would be happening, people planned things to fill the void left by not having Goombay. The event was a creation of a Goombay quilt with San Francisco based artist William Rhodes, who is doing an artist residency at the Studios of Key West. 

Key West residents, especially those from the Bahama Village neighborhood were invited to the park to create colorful squares of fabric individually that celebrated the community of Bahama Village, it’s history and significance in the Key West community. The individual squares would be joined together to create a collaborative quilt that could be added to each year.

It was a cool and successful event, especially for a first-time event as members of the community of all ages turned out to create their quilt squares. It was so cool to see and hopefully in the future when Goombay returns it will be incorporated as part of the annual event.

After the quilting event, I headed over to Clinton Square Market where my friends Grant and Jenn were celebrating the Grand Opening of their new Christmas shop, Twisted Tinsel. It is a cute little shop featuring all manner of Christmas ornaments, decorations and more. Hopefully the location in Clinton Square, which is just next to the Mallory Square Pier where thousands gather each evening for the sunset celebration will prove to be a successful home for the shop.

Next, I was off to The Studios of Key West to photograph the sixth annual “Smallest Parade in the Universe”. The parade which features small floats created by local artists which parade down a miniature version of Duval Street created by artist Rick Worth has been an annual fixture. But this year, for the first time, the event was virtual, being broadcast on the internet live rather than an in-person event as it always has been.

This is a concession made due to Covid, though the product itself did not seem impacted that much as Landon Bradbury was the MC for the evening, there was a full complement of creative and interesting floats and the broadcast actually looked fantastic. The only potential downside is that usually the floats are auctioned off after the parade as a fundraiser for the MARC House and this year bid had to be made online. 

But it was a great event and I felt fortunate to be one of the few people to actually be on-hand to see it in person. A bonus for those watching is that the theme for Fantasy Fest 2022 was announced during the broadcast and it is….drumroll please…”Cult Classics and Cartoon Chaos”.