The Importance of Being Ernest: Hemingway Days 2023 at Key West are an Unforgettable Tribute to America’s “Papa”

Every year around the special date of July 21st, renowned author, sportsman, and winner of the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize, Ernest Hemingway, is celebrated in Key West with his own miniature holiday known as Hemingway Days. These festivities last almost a week, and each spectacle is a perfect birthday tribute to the man affectionately known as ‘Papa.’

Hemingway left his mark on the world with his writing, and Key West left its mark on him. Papa said, “It’s the best place I’ve ever been anytime, anywhere.” Key West was the inspiration for his short story, To Have and Have Not, as well as a writing retreat, where he composed some of his other greatest works including A Farewell to Arms.

This year, from July 19th-22nd, Hemingway Days is celebrating the 124th anniversary of Papa’s birthday with their host of annual events, including the marlin fishing tournament, short story competition, Caribbean street fair, literary readings, Hemingway 5k run, the Running of the Bulls (Key West style), and of course, the famous Hemingway Lookalike Society contest.

So cast a line into the sea, or quote a line from The Old Man and the Sea – it’s time to get Hemingway Days underway!

“My Big Fish Must Be Somewhere”

Launch your boat into the teeming waters of the Key West Marlin Tournament from July 20th-22nd and find yourself reeling in some big cash prizes! (Note: as of writing, dates are part of a preliminary schedule and subject to change.)

The key to this Hemingway Days Key West contest is to score the most points by the end of the tourney, which is done by catching fish, of course. Rather than each catch being judged on its weight and length, points are simply awarded for each marlin caught. In this tourney, it’s quantity over quality, so fish fast and fight hard! Every marlin you hook and release will land you a whopping 400 points.

This point total is reflective of the average weight of a marlin, which typically ranges from 200 to 400 pounds (although females, which are much larger than males, have been known to reach weights of 1,985 pounds or more). Talk about making waves!

Hemingway, writing from the perspective of his character, Santiago, in The Old Man and the Sea, described a marlin catch like this:

“But what a fish to pull like that. He must have his mouth shut tight on the wire. I wish I could see him. I wish I could see him only once to know what I have against me. . .Then the fish came alive, with his death in him, and rose high out of the water showing all his great length and width and all his power and his beauty.“

Hemingway wrote from experience, being an avid fisherman himself. As with every carefully planned event during Hemingway Days, the fishing tourney is both a remembrance and reenactment of Papa’s life.

Fittingly, Papa’s love for the sport really developed in Key West. He became a student of deep-sea angling here, befriending the local fishermen in order to learn about different tackles and techniques. Hemingway’s son, Jack, said, “In our family. . .all sporting forms of fishing were a sort of religion.”

Hemingway even bought his own fishing boat, the Pilar, whose steering system included the wheel of a Ford Model T. While fishing on his “marvelous” boat, Hemingway caught not only marlin but also tuna and a record-breaking sailfish.

In a similar fashion, points will also be awarded for other types of fish caught during this Hemingway Days tourney, with spearfish bringing in another 400 points apiece. One “Fun Fish” can be added to your points total each day, too. The Sailfish reels in 50 extra points, while all other designated Fun Fish (including dolphin, wahoo, and tuna) bring in one point per pound. And one point can be the difference between victory and defeat!

“But man is not made for defeat,” Hemingway wrote as Santiago. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

Getting to spend your days like Papa is a victory in and of itself.

“Write the Best Story that You Can. . .”

Another integral part of Hemingway Days can be participated in from the comfort of your own home: the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition.

Every year, Papa’s granddaughter, author Lorian Hemingway, is the final judge of this worldwide competition and announces the winner during Hemingway Days.

Have a story in mind? Take a seat at your typewriter (or laptop) and start writing! (While the deadline for 2023’s competition has passed, you can already start submitting stories for 2024’s contest!)

Your story can be about anything, as long as it’s under 3,500 words.

In true Hemingway fashion, you’re going to have to write simply and truly to keep within those confines. However, the true goal of the contest isn’t to copy Hemingway at all. This is “a contest that honors the uniqueness of a writer’s voice and heart and spirit.”

Lorian Hemingway is adamant that submissions shouldn’t be judged on little typos, nor do they need to have storylines that are in vogue. Hemingway had a distinct writing voice, and this competition honors him by encouraging other writers to find their voice, write what they know, and continually grow into better wordsmiths.

The competition “is solely dedicated to recognizing, supporting, and honoring the work of the unsung writers whose fiction has not yet reached a larger audience.” To help the winning writer along in their literary aspirations, a prize of $1,500 will be awarded to them, with $500 runner-up prizes for both second and third place.

Win or lose, time spent writing is never wasted and would certainly make Papa proud!

“A Swell Fiesta”

The Running of the Bulls in Key West is fashioned after the event of the same name, which takes place in Pamplona, Spain.

Every year in mid-July, real, live bulls are released into the streets of Pamplona after sunrise. Hundreds of people chase them through narrow alleyways as spectators look out from balconies and windows or tune in on the TV. Both exhilarating and dangerous, the bull run is an iconic piece of Spanish culture, dating back to medieval times, and made especially popular by none other than Ernest Hemingway.

Hemingway said, “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

Papa spent much of the 1920s in Pamplona, enthralled with both bullfighting and the annual bull run. Bullfighting both entertained him and inspired him; it came to play a large and symbolic role in his novel, The Sun Also Rises, and was also the subject of his nonfiction piece, Death in the Afternoon, which has been hailed as the bullfighter’s Bible. Hemingway enjoyed the sport throughout his life, so much so that “After [his] death in 1961, two tickets to the upcoming Pamplona bullfights were discovered in his desk drawer.”

While Key West’s version of the Running of the Bulls wouldn’t be considered a sport (by Papa or anyone else), it’s certainly something to be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates living life to the fullest, like Ernest Hemingway.

Much safer than the run in Pamplona, the bulls in the Key West streets are simply wooden replicas on wheels. Riding atop the bulls, pushing the bulls, and walking alongside the bulls are hundreds of Ernest Hemingways.

This year. the Running of the Bulls will take place on the afternoon of Saturday, July 22nd, and as always, the event will be hosted by Sloppy Joe’s. (More on them in a bit!)

“You Can’t Get Away From Yourself. . .”

Describing Ernest Hemingway is a bit like describing jolly, old Saint Nick: a rather heavy-set man with a full, white beard and eyes that crinkle at the edges. Of course, on those occasions when he had a cigar in one hand and a glass of something strong in the other, the saintly resemblance begins to wear off a bit.

Despite his shortcomings, Hemingway remains the patron saint of Key West, and every July, the city suddenly becomes populated with a plethora of Papas. Hemingway’s iconic look is dutifully recreated by these “aspiring Ernests,” down to each thread of their carefully selected sweaters. The preening is all part of participating in the famous Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe’s!

Sloppy Joe’s Bar opened the day Prohibition was repealed in 1933 and quickly became Hemingway’s favorite haunt in Key West. This wasn’t just because Hemingway enjoyed a cold one, though; he was also good friends with the bartender, Joe Russell.

Sloppy Joe’s is certainly the perfect place for the penultimate contest of Hemingway Days – in fact, Sloppy Joe’s is where Hemingway Days all began in 1981! If Hemingway’s ghost were to linger anywhere, it would be here. After all, he “once called himself a co-owner or silent partner in the enterprise.”

Today, Hemingway still remains Sloppy Joe’s most loyal customer, if only in clone form.

Although Papa’s middle-to-late age look is the most often portrayed, younger versions of Hemingway, sporting darker hair and a mustache, have also competed and made it to the final rounds in the past! Some bearded Hemingway lookalikes-wannabes will even admit they don’t look terribly like Hemingway, but fellowshipping with this unique crowd is just too fun to miss!

Each night at Sloppy Joe’s, up to 80 Papas will be narrowed down to 12. On the final night of the contest, July 22nd – just after the Running of the Bulls – the finalist Hemingways will congregate at the legendary bar once more for the pronouncement of the One True Papa. (He’ll actually just be called “Papa 2023.”)

The Hemingway Days Papa of the Year doesn’t just win bragging rights and a bronze bust of Hemingway, though. He also inherits an important legacy and joins the ranks of an elite society.

Winning Papas become members of The Hemingway Look-Alike Society and are asked to return to Key West every year to judge new look-alike contenders. The Hemingway Look-Alike Society, wanting to have “a higher purpose for this wonderful group of bearded men who gather together every July,” came up with the Hemingway Look-Alike Scholarship and certified Hemingway Days Papas help with the noble program.

The Hemingway Days Look-Alike Scholarship honors the name of Hemingway by giving a helping hand to students attending the Florida Keys Community College. As of 2015, the Look-Alike Society had given away over $150,000 in scholarship money.

However, the spirit of Hemingway doesn’t only live on in his look-alikes.

In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway’s character, Jake, said, “Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bullfighters.” But I would argue that anyone who participates in any of the events at Key West’s Hemingway Days shares in Papa’s legacy of adventure and exuberant living and is well on their way to living life “all the way up.”

---

Are you excited about Hemingway Days this year? What event(s) do you plan on participating in? Let us know in the comments below, and/or share your favorite Hemingway quote with us!

We’ll see you on the next adventure!

Dear MouseEars TV readers, This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Featured photo: Erin Borrini via Flickr