Key West Pride Features Newlywed, Tutu, Cocktail Challenges June 8-12
KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Fun and exciting games and challenges are in store for visitors to Key West Pride 2016. Set Wednesday through Sunday, June 8-12, the annual festival salutes diversity in one of America’s hottest gay and lesbian vacation spots.
The celebration on this island paradise features daytime pool parties; late-night drag shows; on-the-water adventures, including snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding and a VFW fishing tournament; glass-bottom boat tours; a rainbow bike parade; a street fair along world-famous Duval Street; a unique burlesque experience tailored to the LGBT audience; a one-of-a-kind trolley tour documenting the LGBT community’s impact on Key West history and culture; and a special brunch served with drag show on the side.
Contests bring an extra bit of fun to the five-day festival, including a 10k relay for tutu-wearing runners and walkers, pageants to select Mr., Miss and Ms. Key West Pride at the 801 Bourbon Bar and the Bourbon Street Pub, and a special Pride edition of the classic “The Newlywed Game” held at the Aqua Nightclub.
Highlights include the 2016 Stoli Original Cocktail Challenge’s Wednesday night Pride kick-off gala held at the Island House, Friday night runoffs and Saturday night final round. The contest features regional winners from LGBT bars in 15 North American cities, all competing to create an original Key West cocktail that reflects the island’s creativity and spirit.
The final round is set for 7-10 p.m. Saturday on an open-air stage in the 700 block of Duval Street in front of the Bourbon Street Pub. Broadway actor and former “Queer Eye” television personality Jai Rodriguez and Stoli USA’s national LGBT ambassador Patrik Gallineaux will host, with Emmy Award-winning comedy writer and actor Bruce Vilanch, actress and singer Latoya London and famed Key West female impersonator “Sushi” on hand as celebrity judges.
The winner will be the honorary grand marshal of the 2016 Pride Parade. The all-welcome procession, to feature a 100-foot section of Key West’s famed sea-to-sea rainbow flag, will begin at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 12, and proceed up Duval Street from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.
Following the parade, revelers will meet for Stoli’s official after-parade party at La Te Da, 1125 Duval St.
Key West Pride is produced by the Key West Business Guild a member based non-profit marketing organization that has been marketing Key West as a LGBT travel destination since 1978.
Event information and schedule: www.keywestpride.org or www.gaykeywestfl.com
Key West visitor information: www.fla-keys.com/keywest or www.gaykeywestfl.com
Social: Facebook.com/floridakeysandkeywest • Twitter.com/thefloridakeys • Keys Voices blog • Youtube.com/FloridaKeysTV
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