Do you look like Hemingway? Look-alike contest is back on at Sloppy Joe’s in Key West
The Papas will return to the Florida Keys this year.
A crowd resembling author Ernest Hemingway, most likely sporting white beards and berets, will return to Key West this summer as the island continues to roll out a list of festivals that were scratched in 2020 due to COVID-19.
The 40th Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, which is part of the Hemingway Days festival, is back on July 22-24 at Sloppy Joe’s Bar on Duval Street, where it all began.
The 2020 edition, an annual event that celebrates the author who called the island home in the 1930s and whose house is now a museum, was canceled last year because of the pandemic. This year’s competition has a limited number of spots for contestants to maintain COVID health protocols.
The preliminary rounds are set for July 22 and 23, with 35 contenders expected each night. The winner will be chosen July 24 from about 24 finalists. In the past, some 85 contestants have shown up for each night’s preliminary rounds.
“We’re limiting the number of contestants at this time,” said Donna Edwards, the competition’s organizer. “We want to make sure that we’re able to put on a great show and a safe show.”
Participants can pre-register by mail May 19 through July 12 or until all of the slots are filled, according to Sloppy Joe’s website. Entry forms will be available starting on May 19.
The festival runs from July 20-25. Events include a three-day marlin fishing tournament, a commemoration of the 122nd anniversary of the writer’s July 21 birthday, a museum exhibit of rare Hemingway memorabilia, a paddleboard race and literary readings.
Also back on this year is the “Running of the Bulls,” a parade of Ernests, some with fake bulls. The event will take place the afternoon of July 24 on Duval Street.
Key West also has the Hemingway Home and Museum, 907 Whitehead St., which offers tours daily of the writer’s one-time digs.
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Do you look like Hemingway? Look-alike contest is back on at Sloppy Joe’s in Key West."
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