KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Tens of thousands of revelers are expected in Key West Saturday, Oct. 31, to celebrate Halloween with the 2009 Captain Morgan Fantasy Fest Parade, the highlight of the island city’s annual Fantasy Fest masking and costuming celebration.

The spectacularly spooky parade down Key West’s mile-long Duval Street falls on Halloween night — and the festival theme of “Villains, Vixens, and Vampires” was chosen to heighten the gala’s ghoulishness.

One vixen in particular is sure to attract attention during the parade. Its grand marshal is to be dazzling blonde Bridget Marquardt, a three-time “Playboy” cover model and star of television's "The Girls Next Door" and "Bridget's Sexiest Beaches."

The flamboyant procession traditionally features more than 50 lavishly decorated motorized floats, Caribbean bands and marching groups costumed in elaborate robes and feathers. As in the past, organizers expect float entries to range from outrageous to opulent, with many incorporating music and motion.

Crowds of spectators in outlandish costumes line a parade route that includes portions of Whitehead and Front streets and the entire length of Duval Street — a shore-to-shore thoroughfare that stretches through Key West’s historic Old Town from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.

Standout entries in past parades have included an 87-foot-long smoke-breathing “dragon of Wall Street,” a gigantic silver flying saucer surrounded by “Plutonians” protesting Pluto’s declassification as a planet, a 20-foot-tall rooster with a moving head and wings and a revolutionary tea party float with riders costumed as Fidel Castro and other dictators.

Fantasy Fest’s 2009 pre-parade activities are to begin at noon on Halloween with the open-air Duval Street Promenade. Promenade vendors are to offer masking and costuming finery and accessories as well as food and libations. Plans call for live entertainment to add a high-energy flair to the street scene.

At 7 p.m., Marquardt and the parade’s participants are to unleash their inner “Villains, Vixens, and Vampires” as they depart from a lineup area at the intersection of Southard and Whitehead streets.

In addition to the parade, Fantasy Fest offers a packed roster of masquerade balls, exotic costume contests and offbeat delights including a competition for costumed pets and their people. The festival runs from Friday, Oct. 23, through Sunday, Nov. 1.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit fantasyfest.net or call (305) 296-1817. For information about lodging in Key West, call 1-800-LAST-KEY (800-527-8539) or explore this Web site.