You would possibly costume as an intrepid galactic pilot steering a silver starship. A cooler-than-cool hip-hop star sporting ’90s neon garb. Or an orange-wigged carnival clown guiding offbeat funhouse antics.
A gaggle depicting an offbeat Kentucky Derby for unicorns performs on Duval Avenue in the course of the 2023 Fantasy Fest Parade in Key West. (Photograph by Andy Newman, Florida Keys Information Bureau)
Sure, it’s time for Key West’s internationally famend Fantasy Fest, a costuming and masking pageant set for Friday, Oct. 18, via Sunday, Oct. 27. And this 12 months’s theme is “It’s a 90s Neon Cosmic Carnival!” with merriment evoking every thing from the period’s goth pattern to tv’s Seinfeld” and “Mates,” house exploration, carnival craziness and the Y2K frenzy that dominated the last decade’s finish.
Annually, 1000’s of individuals descend upon the island for the festivities, wanting to don unique masks and costumes and escape their real-world cares in 10 days of revelry — revelry that features lavish costume competitions, avenue festivals, masquerade events, unparalleled creativity and the dazzling Key West Fantasy Fest Parade.
Fantasy Fest’s annual theme gives continuous inspiration for costumes each funky and fabulous. This 12 months, parts would possibly recall ’90s favorites just like the spellbinding “Harry Potter” e book collection and blockbuster “Titanic” movie, or the last decade’s neon-bright shade palette and musical stylings.
The joy begins Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18 and 19, with the Goombay Pageant in historic Bahama Village. Honoring Key West’s Caribbean roots, Goombay is a family-friendly avenue celebration that mixes nonstop musical leisure, arts and crafts, island-style meals and an exuberant Junkanoo parade.

Golden Labradoodle Anna Might takes a “bubble bathtub” watched by “spa attendant” Peg Lincoln in the course of the 2023 Fantasy Fest Pet Masquerade. (Photograph by Rob O’Neal, Florida Keys Information Bureau)
Subsequent days and nights characteristic occasions such because the Pet Masquerade, the place the fur flies as pets and their house owners vie for costume prizes. You’ll discover individuals dressed as animals and animals dressed as individuals throughout this family-style competitors set for the night time of Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Standouts in final 12 months’s masquerade included a canine “Computer virus” containing a doggy duo in Roman soldier uniforms, two “sailor” pugs with their human captain, and a household staging a “Smokey the Bear” skit with a 13-year-old Newfoundland portraying Smokey.
And don’t miss the Key West Enterprise Guild’s glitzy Headdress Ball on Thursday, Oct. 24, hosted by famend feminine impersonator Randy Roberts. The glamorous gathering attracts entrants sporting elaborate masks and headgear, from the gorgeous to the weird, plus leisure from high native performers.
Plans name for the cosmic carnival to hit the streets Friday, Oct. 25, with a freewheeling Masquerade March of costumed characters. Marchers are inspired to deliver noisemakers and percussion devices, and show their finest ’90s neon finery to “mild up” the cavalcade via a part of Key West’s Previous City.
Notable contributors within the 2023 march have been a troupe portraying characters from the favored “Barbie” movie, “flocks” of vividly costumed unicorns, and teams paying tribute to the late musical icon and former Key West resident Jimmy Buffett.

Creator and paranormal specialist David Sloan and the spirit of the famed “Robert the Doll” are to guide the 2024 Key West Fantasy Fest Parade. (Photograph by Carol Tedesco, FantasyFest.com)
Revelers may immerse themselves in occasions together with the family-friendly Zombie Bike Trip, two-night Costume Promenade within the designated Fantasy Zone, “Tutu Tuesday” celebrations, Fantasy Market within the Key West Historic Seaport, disco dance celebration, musical tributes to legendary entertainers and a “Residing Artwork” competitors for painted our bodies.
The pageant spirit can be most spectacular, nonetheless, in the course of the Key West Fantasy Fest Parade on the night time of Saturday, Oct. 26, when brilliantly conceived floats journey down Key West’s predominant thoroughfare earlier than tens of 1000’s of cheering spectators. Strolling teams wearing vibrant robes and feathers add fireplace and shade to the procession.
This 12 months’s parade is to be led by the spirit of “Robert the Doll,” a 3-foot-tall sailor doll with a century-long historical past of eerie exploits. As soon as the companion of a Key West artist, the precise doll now resides in a glass case at Fort East Martello Museum — however his presence is to loom massive because the procession’s co-grand marshal with David Sloan, a magical skilled and creator who’s broadly considered the world’s foremost authority on Robert.
Desire a full schedule of Fantasy Fest’s fabulous occasions? Simply click on right here.