Political Circus Inspires Fantasy Fest Parade
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KEY WEST (CBSMiami/FKNB) - Fantasy Fest's 10 days of costuming and masking revelry ended Sunday in Key West, after a flamboyant Saturday night parade that featured satirical depictions of U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Many parade entries drew inspiration from the Fantasy Fest theme, "Political Voodoo & Ballot Box Barbarians," an offbeat salute to the upcoming election and its personalities.
Standouts included a float featuring super-sized heads of Clinton and Trump surrounded by marchers in red, white and blue costumes. A "Weekend at Bernie's" takeoff, with Clinton and Trump figures dangling from trees, starred a dancing silver-haired "Bernie" that recalled both the namesake films and Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders.
Some entries were as elaborate as candidates' pre-election promises — such as "The Purple Party," featuring two gigantic skeletons that rose high above the crowd while eerie purple-suited marchers cavorted around them.
Other showstoppers included a band of barbarians with horned helmets chanting "Vote!," a troupe of Caribbean-style dancers strutting their stuff in skimpy feathered costumes, and marchers wearing barely-there patriotic garb or body paint.
"I believe that Fantasy Fest is crazier than the upcoming election — this was things that I cannot unsee," said parade spectator Wayne Gambino of Brooklyn, New York. "I have to go home and wash my eyes out with holy water!"
Fantasy Fest 2017, themed "Time Travel Unravels," is scheduled October 20th-29th.
The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report.