‘End of Prohibition Celebration’ Set for Dec. 1-5 in Key West

KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Free-thinkers and libation lovers can celebrate the repeal of Prohibition — the 1920-1933 ban on the U.S. manufacture, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages — in Key West at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, a 1930s hangout of literary legend Ernest Hemingway.   

Located at 201 Duval St., Sloppy Joe’s is to host the Key West End of Prohibition Celebration set for Sunday through Thursday, Dec. 1-5. Scheduled events include Prohibition-era films, live entertainment, a cocktail class, a pre-holiday auction and an epic party taking place Dec. 5, the 91st anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that revoked Prohibition. 

Sloppy Joe’s is the ideal location for the celebration since original owner Joe Russell, a charterboat captain and illicit rum “importer,” operated an illegal speakeasy during the so-called “dry” years. On the day Prohibition was repealed in 1933, he opened the bar at its first location on Greene Street — moving to the current location four years later. Hemingway, a close friend of Russell’s, frequented the bar during his Key West years. 

As well as live entertainment from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily at Sloppy Joe’s, the End of Prohibition Celebration is to feature several themed events — beginning Sunday, Dec. 1, with a salute to the anniversary of Sloppy Joe’s Blonde Reserve Rum. 

The Prohibition Days Cocktail Class, harking back to the 1930s speakeasy era, is set for 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2, at the Hemingway Social Club at the Hemingway Rum Company, 201 Simonton St. The mixology class also includes a VIP tour of the company’s Papa’s Pilar Distillery. 

Festival attendees will have multiple opportunities to view two films at Key West’s Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton St., that bring the gritty Prohibition era to life. “The Untouchables,” a 1987 epic set in 1930 Chicago, chronicles federal agents’ battle with legendary gangster Al Capone; and the 2015 documentary “De Palma” profiles the film’s director Brian De Palma. 

Anti-Prohibition revelers can party like it’s 1933 — and costume themselves in finery from the day — during the Repeal Party Thursday, Dec. 5, at Sloppy Joe’s. Highlights are to include swinging bands, mixology presentations, costume prizes, giveaways, period cocktails and exuberant 5 p.m. festivities commemorating the historic repeal. 

Event information, schedule and ticketing links: Keywestbootleggers.com