The Adventure

Fantasy Fest

Join us October 21-26, 2007 for Key West's most unique celebration! Stay a week aboard Conch Pearl for the zany and capricious gathering of masquerading merrymakers! If you are not a scuba diver, don't worry!  This is the one week of of the year where diving comes second only to the Keys biggest party!  We'll sail out to dive or snorkel the nearby reef during the day and at night we'll revel in the citywide celebration of epic proportions! Four to ten guests can book our ruggedly built traditional steel schooner for six days and five nights of merriment. This particular week  includes dockage at a downtown resort marina every night to be close to the celebration! You'll have access to the resorts amenities--pool, hot tub, sauna, shower and laundry facilities.  Breakfast and lunch are provided aboard daily, and dinners are eaten at local restaurants, at your expense. We provide tanks, weights and weight belts for those of you interested in diving, and you bring along the rest of your diving/snorkeling gear.  We love Fantasy Fest because it shows off the imagination and the resourceful spirit that defines the Keys.  And if you have never even heard of Fantasy Fest, think Mardi Gras Island Style!

NOTE TO NATURISTS:  This is an event where body paint is usually considered appropriate attire on the streets of Key West.  Please call for more details!

Holley   305-849-7561       holley@schoonerconchpearl.com    Denny  305-849-7562      denny@schoonerconchpearl.com

2008 Theme:  Pirates, Pundits, and Political Party Animals

What is Fantasy Fest? 

First held in 1979, what began as primarily a party staged to add pep to the quiet days of October soon acquired a life of its own. Tony Falcone and the late Bill Conkle, along with Joe Liska and Frank Romano, organized the party to stimulate business. Over the years, it has grown into a ten day celebration that includes balls, costume competitions, AIDS fundraisers, drag queen contests, costume parties, lots of drinking, as well as pet and neighborhood parades for the whole family. Fantasy Fest has grown to rival New Orleans' Mardi Gras as an event drawing out-of-towners.

The highlight of Fantasy Fest is a parade featuring humorous floats, including one carrying the annually elected Conch King and Queen. In recent years, Fantasy Fest attendance has surpassed 100,000 people, or more than three times the population of the island itself.

The Conch King and Queen

The Conch King and Conch Queen are symbolic titles bestowed upon two residents of Key West selected annually during the course of Fantasy Fest. The tradition stems from the longstanding practice of locals to refer to themselves as Conchs, and jokingly to the island as though it were a separate country called the Conch Republic. The title is also a play on the name of the Queen Conch, once very common in the waters around Key West.