This summer, Duval Street in Key West gives way to restaurants and chefs serving fresh lobster straight to diners on the street. It all builds toward a large stage at the intersection of Greene Street, where popular acts rock out before thousands of music and seafood lovers.
Key West’s venerable drag entertainment venue, AquaPlex (APKW), is closed. According to management the business was evicted from its prime location on Duval St. in the heart of the island’s party district.
From June 8-21, Key West’s Mallory Square, the home to world-famous sunsets and many island artists, will host its Summer Solstice Celebration. The Key West Cultural Preservation Society, which oversees the daily sunset activities, came up with this itinerary as a way to draw tourists at the start of summer while qualifying for Tourist Development Council funding.
Key West Pride is theming its June 3–7 events around “Color the Island.” A choice that could be interpreted as a response by the Key West Business Guild, which organizes the official schedule, to recent directives at the state level, which resulted in last year’s removal of the city’s rainbow crosswalks.
Although the rush of summer in the Florida Keys is just beginning, the month of June can feel as busy in Key West with its Pride celebrations, parades, and even solstice gatherings. The following are some of the one-off and nightly events that you might want to attend.
When Rams Head Presents purchased one of the island’s most recognized music festivals a few years ago, operator Kyle Muehlhauser, who has a great appreciation for the art of songwriting and storytelling, already felt connected to the Key West Songwriters Festival.
What started over a decade ago in the nearby parking lot and primarily out of the exhibit at the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center has grown into a family-friendly annual event at Truman Waterfront Park in Key West.
In the early 1980s, a federal roadblock along parts of the Florida Keys on US1 resulted in at least one Key West City official issuing the threat of secession, which infamously generated publicity.
The Annual Cuban Sandwich Throwdown invites chefs from the island’s top restaurants to serve the dish that thousands of visitors and locals order every year. In the process, the competition might just nudge eaters closer to answering one of the most asked questions. Who makes the best Cuban sandwich?
Grimal Grove remains a unique attraction and the only breadfruit grove in the continental United States. It's roughly two acres, founded by Adolf Grimal and later revived by Patrick Garvey and Josef Crosby in the 2010s, and remains devoted to preserving its tropical fruit trees and plants. Now, the lush space will be showcased ahead of what should be its busiest season.
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