Arts & Culture

There’s always something happening in the Florida Keys & Key West, from eclectic festivals focusing on the area’s colorful history, artistic culture and notable cuisine to events that celebrate the Keys’ unique environment, underwater adventures and quirky ambiance.

Flamboyant festivity is the name of the game during the Bud Light Fantasy Fest Parade set for the night of Saturday, Oct. 27. The lavish procession is the highlight of Key West’s Oct. 19-28 Fantasy Fest costuming and masking celebration, themed “Oh … The Games We Play.” 

High-energy family fun, entertainment and multicultural taste treats await revelers Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19-20, during the annual Goombay street festival.

Divers can compete to wow judges with jolly jack-o-lanterns during the lighthearted 2018 Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest scheduled Sunday, Oct. 14, in waters off Key Largo.

Cinema aficionados can discover top independent films, explore LGBTQ themes, learn about virtual reality techniques and roller-skate at the southernmost hockey rink in the continental United States during the annual Key West Film Festival, scheduled Wednesday through Sunday, Nov. 14-18. 

Several thousand admirers of Jimmy Buffett, known as “Parrot Heads,” are flocking to the island credited with inspiring the multitalented entertainer’s signature sound for their 27th annual “Meeting of the Minds” convention.

Dressed-up dogs, costumed cats, bright-plumed birds and other domestic pets and their people can unleash their“animal magnetism” before more than 2,000 spectators at the wacky Pet Masquerade, a highlight of Key West’s Oct. 19-28 Fantasy Fest.

Jumpstarting the Florida Keys’ seven-month stone crab harvest season is a much-anticipated munch-a-thon — the eighth annual Stone Crab Claw Eating Contest for amateur eaters set for Saturday, Nov. 10, in Marathon.