Fantasy Fest 2007 was a blast. It was my first Key West Fantasy Fest, and what I can say is I'm already counting the days until Fantasy Fest 2008. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to roll around again. It's a week long series of opportunities to become somebody completely different, or at least dress up in a totally different style and become as freaky, sexy, or magical as you can. Only your imagination will limit you. If you've never been to Fantasy Fest, it's really kind of difficult to imagine what it's like, and even more difficult to picture yourself dressing up in costume. If Fantasy Fest 2007 was your first time, then you
most definitely saw some inspiring costumes and body paint. If you were like me, you felt the vibe and joined in the fun and dressed up yourself.
The theme of Fantasy Fest 2007 was something about the mad hatter and being late, kind of Alice and Wonderland I think. It was a tough theme to follow, but most people did their best with Queen of Hearts costumes. There were a bunch of women who chose this costume, but that kind of left most men without a theme costume idea, except if they wanted to be a mad hatter or a late rabbit. In any case, most of the costumes I saw during Fantasy Fest 2007 didn't follow the grand theme. People were more likely to go as their own
personal fantasy, or to dress according to which party they were attending that night.
Each night of Fantasy Fest there are several themed parties sponsored by local Key West bars. For example there's the Plaid Party at Captain Tony's Saloon. Then there's the Toga party at Sloppy Joe's on Duval Street.
There's also the Red Party at Fogarty's, and the PJ's and Lingerie Party at another local Key West bar on Duval Street. There were also some new parties for Fantasy Fest 2007, including the Green Party at a local Irish bar, off Duval Street. The Red Party seems to be one of the favorites, as is the PJs and Lingerie Party. You see lots of devils at the Red Party of course, and well lingerie and PJs is an easy costume.
The theme parties at the Duval Street bars usually spill out into the street. The Plaid party at Captain Tony's Saloon is on a side street just off Duval, and the Key West Police block off the street so there's lots of room for Plaid people. As the week wears on, and more people show up in Key West, Duval Street is blocked off for pedestrian use every single day and night. Vendors line the streets, along with artists hawking their items. The crowds build and build and the town's population swells to triple its normal size. Fantasy Fest 2007 was no exception, with 60,000 people in town. By Saturday night, the night of the big parade event, it was
hard to press on through the crowds. If you had a Fantasy Fest costume with wings, good luck. There simply wasn't room! Good advice for Fantasy Fest 2008: don't wear any costume that incorporate wings or anything else that sticks way out. It won't survive the night.
