KEY WEST, FLORIDA KEYS — The Florida Keys are ready to celebrate their signature dessert this week with the 2021 Key Lime Festival.
The event will include a Key lime pie–eating contest, cocktail stroll, “moveable feast” pie tasting, wacky Key lime pie “drop” and even a scavenger hunt with a limey twist. The event was conceived by Florida Keys author and pie expert David Sloan, who penned “The Key West Key Lime Pie Cookbook.”
Events begin with a champagne reception at Key West’s historic Curry Mansion at 511 Caroline St., renowned as the pie’s actual birthplace. Attendees can meet Sloan and purchase autographed cookbooks during the event.
The festival’s undisputed highlight is the World Key Lime Pie Eating Championship at the oceanfront Southernmost Beach Cafe at 1405 Duval St. After donning safety goggles, entrants must attempt to devour an entire 9-inch pie, topped with mountains of whipped cream, faster than the competition — without using their hands.
Other festival attractions include the Key Lime Cocktail Sip & Stroll, where participants can sample Key lime martinis, margaritas and other limey libations; the Key Lime Pie Hop, whose participants stroll to multiple locations to savor variations on the famed dessert; and the Key Lime Scavenger Hunt, an offbeat family-friendly challenge for teams of two to five people. Events conclude Monday, July 5, following a delectable Key lime brunch.
Key Lime Festival Gallery
The Key Lime Sip and Stroll event is a great way to meet people and explore a wide variety of different Key lime cocktails. At top, happy competitors of the Key lime pie eating contest showing off their battle scars. (Photo Courtesy Key Lime Festival)
It doesn’t matter what year you go, a Key lime pie from Blue Heaven Restaurant Key West is guaranteed to make an appearance. Key lime pie is one of their most popular dishes. (Photo courtesy Key lime Festival)
Key lime pie maker Kermit Carpenter displays one of his signature pies at a Key lime Festival event in 2013 outside his famous shop and bakery in Key West, Fla. Key lime pie, believed to have originated in Key West, is the Florida Keys’ most famous dessert and utilizes the juice of the tiny yellow Key lime. (Photo Courtesy Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)
You will need napkins – lots of napkins – if you participate in the pie eating contest at the Key Lime Festival in the Florida Keys. The World Key Lime Pie Eating Championship will be held at the oceanfront Southernmost Beach Cafe. (Photo Courtesy Key Lime Festival)
There are no shortages of Key lime pie at this festival. The event also features a wacky Key lime pie “drop” and a scavenger hunt. (Photo Courtesy Jerry Grymek)
MORE ABOUT FLORIDA KEYS
Website: keylimefestival.com
Dates: July 1-5
Event Schedule: keylimefestival.com/schedule
Website: fla-keys.com
