The Florida Keys & Key West are known around the globe for their unparalleled natural beauty, laid-back atmosphere and year-round warmth. But they also draw huge numbers of travelers who want to experience cultural events that happen only in the Keys.
Visitors view striking original pieces at the annual Pigeon Key Art Festival.
Those events spotlight the island chain’s heritage as a haven for creative spirits — and they range from celebrations of resident artists’ and writers’ legacies to an art festival that recalls a fascinating era in Keys history.
For example, an offbeat Key Largo folk artist is saluted each May during Key West’s annual Papio Kinetic Sculpture & Art Bike Parade. The late Stanley Papio, who opened a Key Largo welding business in 1949, was famed for his recycled creations crafted out of discarded car parts, pipes and other machine scraps.
Today Papio’s pieces, acclaimed for their imagination and humor, are recognized as important American art. And more than 100 of his sculptures can be seen at Key West’s Fort East Martello Museum.
The rebel metal sculptor’s legacy inspired the Key West Art & Historical Society to establish a yearly “people-powered parade” of sculptural floats, fantastically decorated bicycles and other mobile masterpieces — all delighting spectators as they travel through the island city’s downtown area.
You’ll find visual art festivals all around the Keys, but one in particular is unique to the island chain. At Marathon’s popular Pigeon Key Art Festival, as well as fine art and crafts by nationally recognized talents, attendees can discover the history of the Over-Sea Railroad — which connected the Keys and Key West to mainland Florida for the very first time in 1912.
Held each February, the two-day show benefits the tiny island of Pigeon Key. A famed area landmark, Pigeon Key is a former railroad workers’ camp that lies beneath the Old Seven Mile Bridge west of Marathon.
At the art show, attendees can view and purchase pottery, paintings, glass, sculptures, photography, jewelry and much more — plus watch historical reenactments, artist demonstrations and period entertainment. Festival tickets are good for half-price admission to Pigeon Key by boat (a must-do excursion) during the following week.
Tennessee William stands on the front porch of his Key West home at 1431 Duncan Street. (Photo courtesy of the Ida Woodward Barron Collection/Monroe County Public Library)
Key West’s creative heritage centers on its literary legacy. Playwright Tennessee Williams lived on the island from 1949 until his death, and Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote there for most of the 1930s. So it’s not surprising that both are honored with annual festivals.
For Williams fans, there’s the multiweek Tennessee Williams Birthday Celebration each spring. Highlights typically include a reception on March 26 (Williams’ birthday), screenings of films adapted from his plays, stage performances, contests for writers and artists, and curator-led tours of Key West’s wonderful Tennessee Williams Museum.
Since 1981, Hemingway Days has taken place during the late author’s birthday week each July, attracting Ernest Hemingway look-alikes, writers, anglers and fans of his work.
Scores of stocky, bearded men resembling Ernest compete in the annual Hemingway® Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, a frequent hangout for the legendary writer during his Key West years.
The festival also features prose and poetry readings, the wacky “Running of the Bulls,” symposium presentations on Ernest and his influence, a commemoration of his July 21 birthday, a street fair, a 5k run and a three-day marlin tournament recalling his passion for deep-sea fishing. The 2018 festival is scheduled July 17-22, so there’s still plenty of time to plan a trip to Key West to enjoy it.
Of course, these are just a few of the only-in-the-Keys events that celebrate the island chain’s rich cultural heritage and lively creative community. For a full (and frequently updated) event calendar, just click here.
