The lighthearted I Love Stock Island Festival celebrates the cheerfully rustic island's culture, heritage and working waterfront — with yummy culinary offerings featuring fresh-off-the-boat seafood, wine and beer tastings, history and art studio tours, watersports, live music, and much more.
Instead of anticipating holidays filled with shivery winter chill, imagine indulging in a December getaway to balmy Key West. That’s right — a sun-splashed holiday season, alive with warmth and cheer, is on tap in the subtropical island city.
Born in 1979, Key West's Fantasy Fest has grown to be an exuberant 10-day whirlwind of costuming and masking contests, themed parties, masquerade events and a gala grand parade. And the revelry has also celebrated some amazing people and true-life heroism.
Last October in Key West, I spotted a character wearing a feathered bikini and six-foot-tall peacock headdress, a group of silver-garbed “Beauty School Dropouts From Mars” and a quartet impersonating the legendary Jamaican bobsled team. And it was all part of Fantasy Fest.
Is your Halloween finery is head-and-shoulders above the rest? Then prove it at Key West's glitzy annual Headdress Ball, where revelers hoping to make “headlines” will take center stage and compete for cash prizes.
Key West's Zombie Bike Ride, a pre-Halloween tradition for visiting and local families and groups, is scheduled Sunday, Oct. 23 -- and much of the island is likely to be overrun by an oddly lively gaggle of the biking dead. The spooky spectacle typically draws several thousand participants (including a few slightly bewildered pets).
"Only in the Keys!" has become a common response from people hearing about everything from a Key West parade for dachshunds to mermaids attending a Lower Keys music festival (FYI, these are both actual things).
Attention, foodies! Key West, the sunny subtropical getaway known for its fantastic fresh fish and stunning seafood, is hosting its first-ever full-fledged restaurant month. It’s called WineDine KeyWest, and it takes place Sept. 16 through Oct. 16. And during the mouthwatering month, you can enjoy multicourse prix fixe meals at as many as 30 Key West restaurants.
As a co-producer of Islamorada’s annual Baygrass Bluegrass Festival, local singer/songwriter Robby McClung is passionate about generating more interest in that musical genre — and about bringing performers from around the world to enrich the Florida Keys' cultural and arts community.
Melted butter is optional, but you should definitely bring a hearty appetite (and possibly a bib!) to the 20th annual Key West Lobsterfest. Yes, the eagerly anticipated crustacean celebration is coming up soon — and as always, it features a mouthwatering schedule of events.