Coming July 1st: The Miss Firecracker Pageant

If it hasn’t already been hot enough in South Florida, things just got a little hotter locally.

The 2016 Miss Firecracker Pageant will scorch Key West on Friday, the first day of July, beginning promptly at 8 p.m., at LaTeDa, 1125 Duval, in the upstairs Crystal Room.

Like last year, The Miss Firecracker Pageant will benefit the production of the 2016 Southernmost AIDS/HIV Ride (The SMART Ride) and the 165-mile fundraising journey teams make from Miami to Key West in mid-November.

Also, like last year, coming from Atlanta to host the festivities is Lorelei (Marty Ike), Miss Closet Ball 2011. The evening will also include appearances by former Miss Firecrackers and reigning 2015 Miss Firecracker Tracie Loren (Trey Forsyth).

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 Charlena Sugarbaker (the late Charlie Powell). After Charlie relocated to Key West  — and a few years after the SC 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.

Tickets, including table reservations for 4 @ $100 or individual entry @ $20, may be purchased now by calling 305.296.6196.

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