Pridefest Key West - Pridefest Key West is a week of events in early June whose motto is "Stand Proud Together". A celebration of
gay life and gay culture, Pridefest Key West is a happy, benign set of parties, house tours, contests,
mixers, film showings, tea dances, forums and a few drag queen contests thrown in for fun. This is not an angry
time, nor is it a time for protests. This is Key West, after all, and everyone just wants to have fun.
The week begins on a Saturday with a kick-off party at LaTeDa, a local bar and restaurant located on the
southern end of Duval Street. Sunday features house tours and the Mr. Pride contest at Bourbon Street Pub, a
local gay bar featuring drag queens and good fun. There's also a Ms. Pride contest, held at Aqua, another gay
bar on Duval Street. Aqua also features drag queen shows and figures prominently into Key West's gay culture
and tourism industry. Ms. Pride is not to be confused with Miss Pride, which is a whole other ball game!
Similar events continue all week long, such as Karaoke, a mixer, and then the following weekend a two-day
street fair on Friday and Saturday. 10 to 8 on Friday and 12 to 5 on Saturday, on the 700 to 900 blocks of
Duval Street, commonly known and the "gay" section of Duval. It's where the drag queens are found, every
afternoon beckoning potential audience members for that night's show.
The second and final Saturday night of Pridefest Key West is when the parade happens, at 7 pm. It's a
gentle, happy parade, with various groups filing down Duval Street in costume, lots of fun. Mr., Mrs, and Miss
Pride are ferried atop convertibles waving at the crowd wearing their finest outfits and winners' sashes and
tiaras. Miss Pride is usually the most beautiful. After the parade there's a Pride Ball at Aqua. On Sunday,
there's time to sleep in before Pride Bingo at 2 and a tea dance later in the afternoon.
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