KEY WEST (CBS4)- Key West’s annual decadent costuming and masking festival is set to reach its frenetic highpoint Saturday with a nighttime parade down Duval Street, Key West’s main drag.

Thousands of revelers at Fantasy Fest warmed up for the big event by staging an offbeat Masquerade March late Friday afternoon that began at the local cemetery.

Highlights included a scaly 40-foot sea serpent, King Neptune and his queen, a flock of “chickens of the sea” in tutus, a couple dressed as giant big-mouthed groupers, scores of jellyfish with trailing tentacles and a fleet of marchers sporting “cabin cruiser” headdresses.

Slideshow: Costumes, Street Parties & Contests Dominate Fantasy Fest

The 10-day costuming and masking festival, featuring almost 50 events and themed “Aquatic-A-Frolic,” continues through Sunday.

Fantasy Fest is to conclude with events including a poolside dance party and children’s carnival.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Andy Newman of the Florida Keys News Bureau contributed material for this report)