Key West’s Womenfest aims to create a vibrant series of spaces for women to be around like-minded islanders and travelers, who come as they are. Something that for a long time was celebrated under the city’s “One Human Family” motto.
Key West Business Guild Executive Director, Fritzie Estimond, who develops the event’s itinerary, believes that the support of other women is the most critical factor to sustaining festivals and even businesses that cater predominantly to the entertainment and travel of other females.
While she thinks women-focused spaces are necessary, in her experience, women-focused spaces are not supported as best as they could be.
And Womenfest, if even annually, is doing its part, to push for a unique island experience according to her and other attendees.
This year’s events will honor “Lost Women in the Arts,” which attempts to recognize musicians, entertainers, and visual artists who contributed significantly to their fields.
Highlights include The Hush Hush Theatre’s one-night-only show titled “PLAYGIRL.” It is billed as a “femme-focused cabaret” at Viva Argentinian Steakhouse. Guests can witness “a sexy celebration of lost women in music through the decades.”
The festival’s 80s All-Women Prom will also return to the William Weech American Legion Post 168 in Bahama Village. Attendees are encouraged to source decade-specific dresses, tuxedos, shoulder pads, and hairstyles to complete the dance party’s vibe.
The Lost Women Throwdown, hosted by BruceKey, will provide a fun way to beat the heat inside that same venue with Jell-O wrestling and a Wet T-Shirt Contest.
Tart Tales will take walkers through a special “Girls Just Wanna Have Pie!” Key Lime Pie tour that will include the tastes of celebrated dessert, stories, and cocktails.
All these festivities will unfold during an especially tumultuous year in Key West for the LGBTQ+ community. One that saw the Florida Senate’s CS/CS/SB 1134, which prohibits “providing preferential treatment or special benefits to a person or group based on that person’s or group’s race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” It takes effect at the start of 2027.
Consequently, Monroe County officials declared Key West Pride, Tropical Heat, and Womenfest ineligible for 2027 Tourist Development Council funding.
Further, the longtime AquaPlex Key West bar and nightclub (better known as Aqua) shut its doors amid allegations of unpaid rent. Within weeks, the attached Birdcage and 22&Co. (tutu bar) also ceased operations. AquaPlex Key West was one of several famed venues connected to Pride Holdings Group that closed in recent months.
Despite the challenging landscape, Estimond believes that the larger public, including allies who are true to the “One Human Family” lifestyle, will pull through.
“I think people do support and want to support,” she said. “This island has always been that even in the midst of chaos, in the midst of hurricanes. We've always shown or seen people on this island show up in ways that always, even to this day, surprises me, by how much people show up for one another.”
Womenfest
September 2–7
gaykeywestfl.com/womenfest
