Key West’s Fantasy Fest is canceled due to COVID-19

Fantasy Fest, Key West’s annual 10-day celebration of the scantily clad and the silly, won’t happen this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s the first time a Fantasy Fest has been canceled. In 2005, after Hurricane Wilma, the event was postponed.

The theme for 2020 was going to be “Roaring 2020’s and Future Fictions,” and it had been scheduled for Oct. 16-25.

Organizers confirmed the cancellation Thursday on Facebook, ending speculation that the city would possibly host the huge event that pours cash into workers’ hands and company wallets at a time when South Florida is suffering through the COVID-19 crisis.

The event generates about $30 million of revenue for the Florida Keys, where about half the local workforce have tourism-related jobs.

“It’s a vital part of the fall season,” said Scott Atwell, executive vice president and CEO of the Key West Chamber of Commerce. “Organizers thought about every which way to make it work, but it’s just not the kind of event that lends itself to social distancing.”

The Keys have so far been spared the type of case rates that have struck neighboring counties Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Still, reported cases in the Keys have risen sharply in recent days. Since the Keys reopened U.S. 1 to tourists June 1, the number of cases has quadrupled. As of Thursday, the Keys had 445 cases, with six deaths.

“It is with a heavy heart that we are announcing the cancellation of Fantasy Fest 2020,” wrote Nadene Grossman-Orr in a statement.

Grossman-Orr said the Tourist Development Association, a nonprofit that owns the brand, and Key West city leaders agreed this is the “most responsible decision we can make.”

Key West depends on the revenue Fantasy Fest brings after a slow summer season, she wrote, so the group plans to work with A.H. of Monroe County’s “Community Wins” offshoot to create a “Fantasy Fest Fund” to help those in need.

Fantasy Fest letter by Gwen Filosa on Scribd

A.H. of Monroe County, formerly called AIDS Help, hosts its major fundraisers during Fantasy Fest, including a king and queen contest in which those who raise the most money take the crowns.

No details about the fund were released Thursday.

Fantasy Fest, created in 1979 by local businessmen who wanted to fill the island at a time when tourists were scarce in the fall, draws tens of thousands of people to the tiny island. It’s known for a catalog of parties before culminating in a big Saturday night parade down Duval Street.

Next year’s Fantasy Fest is scheduled for Oct. 22-31.

“It can’t get here fast enough,” Atwell said.

Before Fantasy Fest organizers confirmed they had canceled the 2020 event, the people who put on the Zombie Bike Ride, which draws thousands who dress like the undead and take off on bikes across the island, said they had scrapped the 2020 ride.

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