Costumed children kick-off Guavaween

YBOR CITY -- Before the adults descend on Ybor City tonight, fairies, princesses and pirates take to 7th Avenue, and juice is the drink of choice.

Before the sexy costumes come out, the miniature ones predominate at the Guavaween Family Fun Fest, which runs until 3 p.m. today.

It's still daylight, so the scary "Night on Bald Mountain" song -- you know, the one from Fantasia -- doesn't seem to have much effect. Maybe the most frightening sight is a Giant African Millipede at the Lowry Park Zoo's table. One waist-high princess refuses to touch it, even though her mom tells her it's OK.

The street was lined with crafts and games, and entrance was $5. One of the most popular stops was the zoo's table. That's where 3-year-old Jade Roth of Seminole found a zoo worker holding a porcupine.

Jade, in the mermaid costume her mom made her, held out her hand to touch the prickly animal. No, the zoo worker says. Not this one. So Jade returns to munching on her Spree candies.

"She loves animals," her mom says.

-- Jessica Vander Velde, Times staff writer