I asked around and not one person I work with went to Conch Republic Days. I wonder why?
Summer is the time of year when the people in charge of attracting tourists dream up all sorts of events and gatherings and parties and tastings to draw people into town. I have never been too attracted to crowds and noise and these events tend to leave me cold. Which in my own mind has made me feel a bit of a goofball. Everyone else likes standing around in the sun eating good food off a crappy paper plate, right? Why not me? It seems I am not alone. Kristi, speaking of one such event sniffed. "It's for tourists," and went back to texting her Conch (the "h" is silent) friends.
I had a conversation once with the owner of Fast Buck Freddies, one of the seminal organizers of Fantasy Fest. he described summers in Key West, "back in the day" as a time of extreme boredom (no wonder I took off for California immediately upon arriving as a youngster on a Vespa!). Duval Street was the proverbial place where a cannon could be shot and no one would be hit. Indeed it was a domestic dispute between bored crazy neighbors that prompted the first parade, a way of distracting people in the exceedingly hot dog days of summer in hurricane season. It was a short parade with a lot of drinking to celebrate the hardy few still in town.
Nowadays Fantasy Fest has become an occasion for people to come to town, take off their clothes and act stupid. It's a shame really because the innocent nudity and stupidity has been turned into something rather unpleasant and weird. I try to approach that week with an open mind and inevitably I end up feeling prudish and a little unclean. Unhappily the locals' parade seems to be succumbing to the commercialization disease as well. And yet how can one apportion blame? Without the visitors there would be no money and Key West has already gone bankrupt once in it's history- that was what precipitated the drive toward tourism!
Summer is the time of year when the people in charge of attracting tourists dream up all sorts of events and gatherings and parties and tastings to draw people into town. I have never been too attracted to crowds and noise and these events tend to leave me cold. Which in my own mind has made me feel a bit of a goofball. Everyone else likes standing around in the sun eating good food off a crappy paper plate, right? Why not me? It seems I am not alone. Kristi, speaking of one such event sniffed. "It's for tourists," and went back to texting her Conch (the "h" is silent) friends.I had a conversation once with the owner of Fast Buck Freddies, one of the seminal organizers of Fantasy Fest. he described summers in Key West, "back in the day" as a time of extreme boredom (no wonder I took off for California immediately upon arriving as a youngster on a Vespa!). Duval Street was the proverbial place where a cannon could be shot and no one would be hit. Indeed it was a domestic dispute between bored crazy neighbors that prompted the first parade, a way of distracting people in the exceedingly hot dog days of summer in hurricane season. It was a short parade with a lot of drinking to celebrate the hardy few still in town.Nowadays Fantasy Fest has become an occasion for people to come to town, take off their clothes and act stupid. It's a shame really because the innocent nudity and stupidity has been turned into something rather unpleasant and weird. I try to approach that week with an open mind and inevitably I end up feeling prudish and a little unclean. Unhappily the locals' parade seems to be succumbing to the commercialization disease as well. And yet how can one apportion blame? Without the visitors there would be no money and Key West has already gone bankrupt once in it's history- that was what precipitated the drive toward tourism!Perhaps the dilemma lies, once again with the size of the land mass available to us. It's difficult to avoid the mass of people that come to town be it for a very loud Bike Week, or Fantasy Fest or Conch Republic Days. In response to the complaints listed in the Citizen's Voice one can usual read anonymous advising to leave town if they don't like it...But there is too the feeling sometimes that there should be more to Key West than frenetic consumption, and happily there is, for those that want to and that take the time to seek out that quieter more contemplative place. I guess I should not feel too annoyed at myself for not going into town and wading into the happy crowds and watching the Conch Republic Navy bombard the Coasties with bread. They had lots of people already down there doing their bit and helping out the economy...
http://www.conchrepublic.com/schedule.htm
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