Press Releases

The final episode of a globally available Florida Keys Traveler podcast series — commemorating the Keys’ 200th “birthday” and featuring commentary by a 104-year-old resident — is to be posted on the bicentennial date Monday, July 3.

An encore broadcast of a South Florida PBS television documentary and the final episode of the Florida Keys Traveler 2023 podcast — both commemorating the Keys’ 200th “birthday” — are to air and be posted respectively on the bicentennial date Monday, July 3.

An intriguing array of literary events awaits readers and writers during Hemingway Days 2023, set for Tuesday through Sunday, July 18-23. The festival celebrates the talent and Key West lifestyle of author Ernest Hemingway, who lived on the island for most of the 1930s.

Just across Cow Key Channel from Key West, Stock Island is the heart of the Florida Keys’ commercial shrimping industry, alive with colorful marinas, eclectic arts emporiums and inviting waterfront bars and restaurants. The island’s seafaring spirit, culinary diversity and creative offerings are to entice attendees to the annual I Love Stock Island Festival scheduled Wednesday through Sunday, July 12 to 16.

Local parades, beach parties, glittering fireworks and the creation of the world’s largest Key lime pie are to highlight Independence Day celebrations throughout the Florida Keys.

Ernest Hemingway’s sporting lifestyle is to inspire athletes on land and water in Key West, the island where the legendary writer lived during the 1930s. The Hemingway 5k Sunset Run and Paddleboard Race are to test entrants’ speed in two types of competition Saturday, July 22.

Divers visiting the Florida Keys who want to do more than observe the only coral barrier reef in the continental United States can serve as citizen scientists by planting nursery-raised coral to help replenish the reef ecosystem.

The Florida Keys & Key West are celebrating a bicentennial, or 200th anniversary, with heritage activities throughout Monroe County. Events commemorate the Florida Territorial Legislature’s July 3, 1823, establishment of the county, which contains the entire Florida Keys.

?Scott Dekle, vice president of Marathon’s Keys Fisheries for the last 18 months, grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, spending endless hours on and in the water.