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Hemingway lookalikes in Key West
Dozens of doppelgangers will descend on Key West to celebrate the legacy of globetrotting writer Earnest Hemingway.
It is the 43rd annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest and will also be the 125th anniversary of the legendary author’s birth.
The contest runs from July 18-21, with as many as 150 “Ernest” competitors and their fans expected.
The look-alike challenge is a highlight of the island city’s July 16-21 Hemingway Days celebration, created to salute the globetrotting author who lived and wrote in Key West during the 1930s.
It takes place at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, 201 Duval St., where Hemingway spent time sipping cocktails.
Entrants come from across the US and overseas to vie for the look-alike title.
Many are repeat contenders who bring their own cheering fans.
Preliminary rounds are set for the Thursday and Friday, July 18 and 19, with the finals at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 20.
Previous contest winners, including 2023’s Gerrit Marshall of Madison, Wisconsin, will judge the Hemingway hopefuls.
Other look-alike highlights include Sloppy Joe’s “Running of the Bulls,” inspired by the world-renowned event in Pamplona, Spain, but featuring man-made bulls on wheels.
On Sunday at Sloppy Joe’s a ‘Papa Birthday Bash’ commemorates the 125th anniversary of Hemingway’s birth.
Also scheduled is a Wednesday evening welcome party for contestants and their fans, as well as the Hemingway Look-Alike Society’s Thursday evening scholarship presentations to Florida Keys students.
Established in 2000, the scholarship program is supported by fundraising efforts by the “Papa” lookalikes and their followers.
In Key West, Hemingway wrote classics including “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “To Have and Have Not,” a novel set primarily in the island city.
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