Love 'em, or hate 'em, but each year the Fantasy Fest theme draws both praise and complaints while providing inspiration for some truly imaginative floats and costumes.
This year's "Villains, Vixens and Vampires" theme has piqued the interest of all manner of costume designers, while others are left wondering what on earth to wear.
Perhaps a quick rundown of the three definitions for each character would be helpful:
A villain is a "person who does evil deliberately" or "the principal bad character in a film or work of fiction." Think Snidely Whiplash from Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life" or Darth Vader from "Star Wars."
A vixen is a female fox or a "malicious woman with a fierce temper." Think Jessica Rabbit, Susan Lucci as Erica Kane on "All My Children" or the Catwoman.
A vampire is a "corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living." Think Boris Karloff, Bram Stoker's Dracula or Tom Cruise as Lestat.
"This year, everyone has really embraced the theme," said Ashley Hoover, co-director of Fantasy Fest. "Vampires are all the rage right now, and vixens cover pretty much all scantily clad women."
Villains are easily identified, and at least one official, who declined to have his name printed, is expecting to see some costumes portraying Monique Acevedo, the former Adult Education coordinator who stands accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school district and its taxpayers.
Hoover said the Tourist Development Association, which coordinates Fantasy Fest and is different from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, this year worked hard to solicit theme suggestions from the public. "We got thousands of suggestions," Hoover said, adding that the tourism association board makes the final decision, which often is a combination or hybrid of two or more different suggestions. "The board picks themes that will encourage national and international media attention, because the whole point of Fantasy Fest, for the past 30 years, is to make money for Key West during this slow time of year."