Pageants, film screeenings, a new foam pool party, and a parade featuring a segment of a 1.25-mile-long rainbow flag are among the attractions for visitors to Key West Pride 2018. The annual festivities, set for this Wednesday, June 6 through Sunday, June 10, celebrate diversity and equality in the southernmost city, a perennial favorite vacation destination for LGBT visitors.
The celebration also offers visitors a chance to experience Stoli’s Key West Cocktail Classic. This mixology competition, popular in gay bars across the country, features regional winners all tasked with creating a Key West cocktail that embodies the island’s creativity and free spirit. Now in its fifth year, the challenge is believed to be North America’s largest annual LGBT bartending competition.
Saturday’s final round is scheduled for 7 p.m. on an open-air stage in the 700 block of Duval Street. Stoli USA’s national LGBT ambassador Patrik Gallineaux is to host along with “Real Housewives of Dallas” star LeeAnne Locken.
Celebrity guests and contest judges include recording artist Debby Holiday, former “American Idol” finalist LaToya London, comedy writer and actor Bruce Vilanch, television personality Jai Rodriguez and Key West female impersonator Sushi.
The Stoli champion is to be named honorary grand marshal of the 2018 Pride Parade. The parade is set for 5 p.m. Sunday, June 10, proceeding up Duval Street from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Afterward, parade participants and spectators can gather for a traditional Key West Tea Dance at the renowned La Te Da at 1125 Duval St.
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Photos by Key West Pride/ Key West Gay Business Guild used under the Creative Commons Attribution license