Festive Holiday Cheer to Light Up the Florida Keys & Key West

Family Fun
This Family Fun story spotlights a family-focused attraction, event or place that enriches the Florida Keys for visitors of all ages

FLORIDA KEYS — A sun-splashed holiday season comes alive in the Florida Keys & Key West with warmth and cheer throughout the 125-mile-long island chain. From Key Largo to Key West, the 2016 holidays are sprinkled with only-in-the-Keys events, packed with spirited activities and festooned with decorated boats and bicycles.

Holiday offerings — many to light up the land and sea during subtropical Keys evenings — are highlighted here:

Dec. 3-31: Key West Holiday Fest. Key West. Each year during the month of December, a wide range of seasonal celebrations takes place throughout Key West. Highlights include the lighting of the Harbor Walk of Lights, the Holiday Historic Inn Tour and a lighted boat parade.

Dec. 9 and 16: Holiday Historic Inn Tours. Key West. Two evenings of tours include trolley transportation between several participating inns, each decorated for the holidays. Treats and libations are offered at each inn. Event-goers also can provide their own transportation or bicycle to the inns. Contact the Lodging Association of the Florida Keys and Key West to purchase tickets, priced at $30 per person. Call 305-296-4959.

Dec. 10: Pops in the Park Holiday Suites Concert. Islamorada. The family-friendly holiday concert, themed "Holiday Suites," offers traditional and pops music performed by the Keys Community Concert Band. Admission is free. Participants are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets to the 4 p.m. outdoor concert at Founders Park's ICE amphitheater at mile marker 87 bayside. Call 305-451-4530.

Dec. 10: Parade of Paws and Holiday Bazaar. Key West. The third annual pet parade at Higgs Beach Dog Park supports the Florida Keys SPCA's animal care fund. To participate, pets' humans gather funding pledges from family and friends. Top earners win bragging rights for titles of the 2016 Parade of Paws king, queen, prince, princess, duke or duchess for their treasured companions. Four-legged creatures and owners can take photos with Santa, enjoy entertainment, food and crafts, and mingle with animal and human friends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 305-294-4857.

Dec. 11, 14 and 17: Lighted Boat Parades. Throughout the Keys. Decorated and lighted boats are to cruise Florida Keys waters. The Middle Keys' Dec. 11 Key Colony Beach Lighted Boat Parade, begins at the 7th Street Canal; Schooner Wharf Lighted Boat Parade Dec. 14 procession travels around Key West's Historic Seaport and harbor areas; Dec. 17 Key Largo Boat Parade on Blackwater Sound is staged around mile marker 104; the Dec. 17 Lower Keys Lighted Boat Parade is to cruise through the Pine Channel Causeway and feature Santa and Mrs. Claus. For information, call 305-923-5730.

Dec. 10-18: Nutcracker Key West. Key West. Florida Keys children, adults and community leaders appear with a nationally cast corps de ballet in this stunning production with a Florida Keys theme, an adaptation of the beloved holiday classic. Executive producer and artistic director Joyce Stahl, a Key West resident, performed with New Jersey's American Repertory Ballet for more than 35 years. Performances featuring tropically colored and specially created costumes are to be held Dec. 10-11 and 14-18 at the Tennessee Williams Theatre.

Dec. 11: Christmas on the Sheriff's Animal Farm. Stock Island. Children and adults can visit the furry, fluffy and feathered residents of the animal farm and petting zoo and get a photo taken with Santa. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office Animal Farm is located at the county's detention center just northeast of Key West at 5501 College Road. It's open on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. Call 305-293-7300.

Dec. 21: Custom House Holiday Concert & Bazaar. Key West. The Key West Art & Historical Society is to host this inaugural event at the historic Custom House Museum. Highlights of the evening gathering are to include performances by musicians and choirs, local artisans showcasing their wares, a light show and "selfies" with Santa. Call 305-295-6616.

Dec. 27-28: Key West House Tours. Key West. Annual self-guided tours of unique Key West homes and gardens, festively dressed for the holidays, are to be presented by the Old Island Restoration Foundation. Tickets are $30 per person in advance and $35 on tour days. Proceeds benefit the foundation's museum, collection and programs. Call 305-294-9501.

Dec. 31: Annual Key West Dachshund Walk. Key West. Spectators can meet and greet as many as 200 dachshunds, many of them costumed, during a noontime "wiener wonderland" stroll beginning on Fleming Street between Whitehead and Duval streets. Canines and their people meander through the island's picturesque downtown during this beloved, much photographed walk. Email.

Dec. 31: New Year's Eve Celebrations in the Southernmost City. Key West. The Southernmost City typically celebrates with a "conch shell drop" at Sloppy Joe's Bar, 201 Duval St.; the descent of a super-sized red high-heel shoe carrying drag queen Sushi at the Bourbon St. Pub/New Orleans House complex, 724 Duval St.; the lowering of a pirate wench from atop a tall ship's mast at the Schooner Wharf Bar, 202 William St.; and at the Ocean Key Resort & Spa, at 0 Duval St., plans call for a huge replica of a Key lime wedge to splash down into a larger-than-life margarita glass on the property's Sunset Pier. Call Ocean Key Resort at 305-296-7701.

Dec. 31: New Year's Eve Fireworks. Key Largo and Islamorada. Spectacular waterfront fireworks are to ring in 2017 on the backcountry bay of Blackwater Sound around mile marker 104 in Key Largo. It's best viewed at Sundowners, Senior Frijoles, Cactus Jack's, the Marriott Key Largo Beach Resort, the Caribbean Club or Jimmy Johnson's Big Chill. Visit . In Islamorada, Cheeca Lodge & Spa at mile marker 82 hosts oceanfront fireworks, a gourmet dinner from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., live music and dancing on the beach. For advance reservations, call 305-517-4447.

Florida Keys Events Calendar

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Catch a lighted boat parade in early December.

Catch a lighted boat parade in early December.

Winter in the Keys means art festivals throughout the islands.

Winter in the Keys means art festivals throughout the islands.

Dress for the season during art strolls around the holidays.

Dress for the season during art strolls around the holidays.

Catch a popular performance of Key West Nutcracker, whose performances are only every other year.

Catch a popular performance of Key West Nutcracker, whose performances are only every other year.

Among the New Year's Eve Celebrations in the Southernmost City is Sushi the drag queen who drops in a giant red shoe at the Bourbon St. Pub/New Orleans House complex.

Among the New Year's Eve Celebrations in the Southernmost City is Sushi the drag queen who drops in a giant red shoe at the Bourbon St. Pub/New Orleans House complex.

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