A Tradition of Community, Creativity & Celebration
The glitter may have settled, but the afterglow of Fantasy Fest 2025 still lingers — a glow cast by decades of generosity, imagination, and community spirit that make the Florida Keys shine long after the party ends.
🎉 Congratulations to King Joe Wooten, Queen Cindy Bensen, Duchess Mina Valdez, and Duke Floyd Jenkins (aka Pepa Mahogany) — our newly crowned Royal Court — and to our friends at the Florida Keys SPCA, this year’s Fantasy Fest beneficiary. Their compassion for animals and commitment to community beautifully carry forward the legacy of giving that defines this event.
For over 30 years, AH Monroe has proudly helped shape that legacy through the Fantasy Fest Royal Campaign — a beloved tradition that turns friendly competition into lasting community impact. Each King, Queen, Duke, and Duchess has helped build the foundation of care that still supports our island neighbors today — a legacy as dazzling as the costumes themselves.
A royal walk through time — past Kings and Queens from 1989–2022, celebrating decades of creativity, generosity, and Key West spirit.
From Crowns to Community Action
This year’s theme, “Bedtime Stories & Magical Monsters,” gave the AH Monroe team the perfect excuse to get whimsical — transforming our parade float into a larger-than-life dreamscape with a message that stays with us day and night:
A bed for everyone. A happy ending to every bedtime story.
While the float brought pure fun, our presence throughout festival week kept the mission front and center. At the Goombay Festival, we partnered with the Florida Department of Health and Midway Specialty Care Center to distribute free condoms, HIV test kits, and wellness resources. And at the Fantasy Fest Street Fair, our very own Captain Love turned heads, spread joy, and shared vital messages about safer sex and self-care.
Captain Love and friends spreading joy and safer-sex awareness at the Fantasy Fest Street Fair.
AH Monroe staff and volunteers aboard the Fantasy Fest parade float featuring the message, “A Bed for Everyone. Our dream for the future.”
Honoring a King, Celebrating a Queen
Coronation night also sparkled with celebration and sentiment as we honored the late Christopher Elwell (King 2010) — a longtime AH Monroe board member, friend, and tireless advocate for the Keys community.
In his memory, the new Christopher Elwell Royal Award was introduced, with the inaugural honor presented to 2015 Fantasy Fest Queen Jodyrae Campbell for her enduring spirit of service and leadership. It was a heartfelt tribute to a man whose generosity still inspires so much of our work today.
The Spirit Carries Forward
From the laughter of parade night to the reunion at Coronation, Fantasy Fest continues to remind us what makes the Keys so extraordinary — creativity, connection, and care for one another.
AH Monroe is proud to be part of this royal legacy, and prouder still to help keep that spirit alive — one smile, one float, and one dream for the future at a time.
