Southernmost Beach Resort
Credit: Southernmost Beach Resort
If your ideal getaway involves pie, cocktails and an unapologetic obsession with citrus, Key West has your Fourth of July plan, y’all. The annual Key Lime Festival returns July 1-5, morphing America’s southernmost city into a five-day celebration of the fruit that put the Florida Keys on the culinary map.
The festival goes far beyond a simple slice of pie. Visitors can spend the week hopping between pie tastings, cocktail competitions, cooking classes, brunches, pool parties and quirky contests that embrace Key West’s famously offbeat personality.
Highlights include the Key Lime Pie Hop, where participants sample some of the island’s best versions of the iconic dessert, the Key Lime Sip & Stroll cocktail crawl and the World-Famous Key Lime Pie Eating Championship, where contestants attempt to devour an entire pie without using their hands.
There’s also a Key Lime Vendor Village, trivia night, a farmers market packed with citrus-inspired treats, a pirate-themed dessert competition and even a Hot Wheels race involving beer chugging and hula hoops. Because this is Key West, of course there is.
One of the best hubs for festivalgoers is the Southernmost Beach Resort. Located at the quieter end of Duval Street, the oceanfront resort hosts several festival events, including Key Lime-themed trivia, the Vendor Village and that pie-eating championship. It also puts guests within easy reach of many of the festival’s marquee happenings while offering a place to cool off between slices.
Whether you’re debating the perfect pie recipe, sipping a Key Lime cocktail at sunset or cheering on pie-eating hopefuls, this is one of Florida’s most delightfully eccentric food festivals.
For Key lime devotees, it’s worth the drive, flight or boat trek for sure.
For more information and a full slate of events, visit keylimefestival.com.
