Key West Holiday Parade

December 9, 2019

 

Yes Santa Claus, there is a Virginia

 

Farmer Jeanne

Key West Holiday Parade

One of the biggest annual events and certainly the largest of the many parades that are held in Key West each year is the Key West Holiday Parade which is always held on the first Saturday evening of December and is the official kick-off of what is a very busy holiday season in Key West. Thousands of kids, families and Key West Citizens like us line Truman and Duval Streets to watch the festivities in what is always one of the best community events of the year.

 

Julie and Lisa

Everyone seemingly participates in some manner, either by watching, hosting a watch party or participating directly as one of the myriad of entries of the parade. It seems every church, school group and organization, civic group and many businesses create floats or festive walking entries as this year there were 74 total entries representing just about every aspect of our island community.

Tom and Greta

 

Sue

Because Key West is so interesting and diverse, you never know what sort of float or group might roll by in front of you, but all are welcome and everyone is in a happy holiday spirit. Not many communities in the US can boast of a holiday parade that includes Drag Queens, Military representatives and the local high school band all joined in the same holiday spirit.

 

Debbie

The tradition is for those in the parade to toss candy to the kids lining the street and literally thousands of pounds of candy is thrown into the crowd over the route. Kids make out like bandits, even better than at Halloween as they scramble to snatch up the candy that is tossed out. Kathy and I like to stand next to particularly adorable children to catch some of the overflow that is directed their way.

Beth

Hutch

 

As has been out personal tradition for a number of years, we began parade night at a pre-party at the home of our friends Craig and Holly, they live just a couple of blocks off of the parade route and always host an amazing fun get together at their home leading up to the 7 PM start time when the crowd of friends walk down the block just in time to catch the start of the parade, always led by the motorcycle patrol of the Key West Police Department.

  Brandon

Sophia

For years I have been taking photos of many of our friends and their kids each year on Christmas Parade night creating a cool documentation as their families grow up and older. I also love to photograph the parade itself as we always see numerous friends who are in the parade itself as it passes by.

 

Craig and Cheryl

Steve

At some point during the parade, we always make our way down the street to our primary viewing spot in front of the Conch House. Our friend Sam who owns the Conch House always hosts a wonderful Parade Party as the wonderful guest house has a perfect location on Truman Avenue from which to view the parade. The party is always awesome as well as we see tons of friends, have some great food and drinks and generally enjoy the holiday fun.

Sam and Carol

On our way home, we of course came across yet another fun parade party that was in full swing and had to stop in for a quick hello, which turned into a fantastic extension of what was already an amazing and fun evening. Let the holiday spirit soar as we and most of Key West are now fully immersed in the Christmas season and ready for what is one of the most fun parts of the year on the island.

Martina and Jen