Competition, to benefit The SMART Ride
Because South Florida hasn’t been hot enough lately…
…the 2018 Key West Firecracker Competition will scorch Key West on Tuesday, the 3rd of July, beginning promptly at 8 p.m., at AQUA nightclub, 711 Duval.
Produced this year by last year’s winner, Destiny Montgomery – also 2017 Fantasy Fest Queen — hosting the festivities will be newly anointed Queen Mother Jessica Deveraux.
The evening will also include appearances by former Firecrackers.
The event has always been pure camp but its intent serious. It was July 4, 1987. The Miss South Carolina Pageant was about to happen at a posh local club. Management at a competing club sought something to lure patrons.
This might have been a “men’s bar,” but they still knew the lyrics from the musical “Gypsy:” ‘You gotta get a gimmick.’ Beers and brainstorming created the Miss Firecracker Pageant. There was no beauty on that runway. Hairy chests and faces were paired with rhinestones and high heels.
The winner was Charlene Sugarbaker (the late Charlie Powell). After Charlie relocated to Key West — and a few years after the South Carolina pageant folded — he assumed the matriarchal mantle, fine-tuning the pageant in 1994 into something more refined, to include drag performers who might otherwise never consider doing so and benefiting selected non-profit organizations or causes.
Diversity and a greater understanding of gender neutrality have broadened the scope of Firecracker in recent years. Both men and women are encouraged to enter and, this year, the word ‘Miss’ has been struck from the official title to more aptly underscore its embrace of ANYONE wanting to take the stage.
Reservation for Firecracker 2018 are not necessary…just a $20 suggested donation at the door gains access to the sizzle.
This year, like last, money generated from the Key West Firecracker Competition will equally assist the seven Florida organizations who will benefit from The SMART Ride 15 — Pridelines, Broward House, Children’s Diagnostic and Treatment Center, Metro Wellness and Community Centers, Miracle of Love, Inc., Compass Community Center and AIDS Help — and the Key West Mile Markers team, who make the 165-mile fundraising journey teams make from Miami to Key West mid-November.
Registration for TSR 15 is now open. For more information, including this year’s option of a 1-Day Ride, simply go to
or access The Mile Markers for SMART Ride 2017 on FACEBOOK at
and message either Co-Captain Karen Frank-Noll or Donald Gene Dotzauer from that page.
[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]
No Comment