KEY WEST, Florida Keys - Fearsome fanged vampires, wicked vixens and villains of all sorts are expected to prowl the streets of Key West now through Sunday, Nov. 1, during the island city's annual Fantasy Fest celebration.

This year themed "Villains, Vixens, and Vampires," Fantasy Fest offers 10 days of masquerade balls, quirky costume contests and other delights climaxing in a glittering grand parade set for Halloween night.

The grand marshal leading the parade's elaborate floats, exuberant marching bands and costumed dancers is to be vivacious vixen Bridget Marquardt, star of the Entertainment Channel's hit show "The Girls Next Door."

Conceived 30 years ago, Fantasy Fest has grown to be internationally recognized for its uninhibited flair and lighthearted spirit. Revelers flock to Key West to shed their real-world personalities and live out their fantasies on the island city’s quaint downtown streets.

Event organizers encourage 2009 participants to take their cue from the festival theme, designing floats and costumes to salute bloodthirsty creatures of the night such as Dracula and Lestat, villains ranging from melodrama’s bad boys to money-hungry Madoffs, and vixens both evil and enchanting.

“Villains, Vixens, and Vampires” are to run wild in the streets Friday, Oct. 30, during an open-air bizarre bazaar known as the Fantasy Fest Street Fair. Key West’s Duval Street will be transformed into a mile-long marketplace where attendees can find tempting delights such as feathered masks, exotic costumes, arts and crafts, island edibles and frosty libations.

That evening, the Fairvilla Megastore Masquerade March of costumed characters is to parade through Key West’s historic Old Town, starting at the picturesque cemetery. Roistering revelers and denizens of the dark are encouraged to bring noisemakers to add to the procession’s pandemonium.

Fantasy Fest’s frivolity is to reach fever pitch Saturday, Oct. 31 — Halloween night — as vampires prowl for prey and villains and vixens join forces during the spectacular Captain Morgan Fantasy Fest Parade. Some 70,000 spectators typically throng Whitehead and Duval streets to watch the parade’s brilliantly conceived floats, some breathing “flames” or incorporating mysterious animatronics, proceed along Key West’s main thoroughfares accompanied by Caribbean marching bands and lavishly costumed dancing groups.

For more information about Fantasy Fest and a schedule of events, visit the festival’s Web site at fantasyfest.net or call (305) 296-1817.

For information about lodging in Key West, contact the Key West Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-LAST-KEY (800-527-8539) or explore this Web site.