No power boat races in Key West this year. But the holiday parade could still happen

The annual power boat races in Key West won’t happen this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Race World Offshore said Tuesday evening in a Facebook post that the Key West races, which draw crowds on land and sea, are scratched for 2020.

“Race World made the decision to cancel the event as a precaution to protect our teams, fans and the city of Key West,” the organization said. “This is not a decision we made lightly, but the health and safety of our fans are our primary concern.”

Fantasy Fest, the city’s largest annual party that draws some 70,000 people over 10 days, was canceled in July.

But city leaders aren’t ready to give up on one special event: the island’s holiday parade, which as of Tuesday could still take place in December.

“Hopefully,” said City Manager Greg Veliz. “Everyone wants to have it. It will be a decision made at a later date.”

Key West city commissioners met online Tuesday, with Veliz recommending they cancel the rest of the large events remaining on the 2020 calendar.

That included the Key West Business Guild’s Pride event, which had been postponed to run in November instead of June.

The commission voted to cancel the entire list — Lobsterfest, which was set for this week, the Veterans Day parade and the Tri Key West triathlon set for December. But commissioners said they could revisit the holiday parade.

“We could throw it together in a weekend,” said City Commissioner Billy Wardlow.

Another idea was to move the parade from its downtown route that takes it along Duval Street to North Roosevelt Boulevard.

Some of the events on the commission’s list had already been canceled, like Lobsterfest and Brewfest. The annual Womenfest, an LGBTQ event, has also been scrapped due to the pandemic.

In Key West, many events double as fundraisers for nonprofits. Fantasy Fest, for example, is a huge fundraiser for A.H. of Monroe County, which helps people with affordable housing, health care and also offers services for those who have AIDS or HIV.

This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 7:18 PM.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.