In Key West this weekend, they’re once again honoring Ernest Hemingway by competing to look like him
By Rachel Trent, CNN
In “For Whom the Bell Tolls” — Ernest Hemingway’s novel partly written in Key West — the author wrote: “The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for, and I hate very much to leave it.”
In Key West this weekend, about 140 men did their part to keep Hemingway there.
After being canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, they returned in their white or graying beards and stocky builds for the Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest.
The contest has been going on since 1981, bringing aspiring “Ernests” dressed in khaki safari garb or wool fisherman’s sweaters, according to a news release.
The contest is part of Hemingway Days, an annual celebration of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who lived on the island during the 1930s, the release says.
The three-night competition began Thursday at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where Hemingway often spent time, the release said.
The finals are Saturday. Former winners judge the contest.
Other activities at Hemingway Days include a street fair, a three-day marlin tournament and a museum exhibit of rare Hemingway memorabilia, according to a Florida Keys news release.
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