Hemingway Days Celebration In Full Swing On Key West
/ CBS Miami
KEY WEST (CBS Miami/FKNB/AP) – Men with long white beards will wander the streets of Key West this weekend for the annual Hemingway Days celebration. Only one will take the top honor at the "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest.
The competition is the crowning achievement of stocky men who grow their beards and dress-up to look like Ernest Hemingway, the famous author who called The Conch Republic his home during the 1930s.
More than 125 look-alikes (some that are repeat contestants) registered for the three-night competition at Sloppy Joe's Bar with hopes of receiving the title of "Papa".
Even television chef Paula Deen's husband, Michael Groover, is among the finalists.
Among the judges are former winners including last year's winner, Greg Fawcett. Fawcett is a North Carolina investment banker who won the title after 10 tries.
George Gonzalez, right, photographs Rachel Escudero atop a fake bull amid Ernest Hemingway look-alikes Saturday, July 20, 2013, in Key West, Fla. The couple, from Barcelona, Spain, was visiting Key West during the island city's annual Hemingway Days festival that continues through Sunday, July 21. (Source: Andy Newman/FLorida Keys News Bureau/HO)Larry Austin, center, and other past winners of the "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest eye entrants Thursday, July 18, 2013, during the first of two preliminary rounds of this year's contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. More than 125 Ernest Hemingway look-alikes are registered for the annual competition that is a facet of Key West's Hemingway Days festival that continues through Sunday, July 21. (Source: Andy Newman/FLorida Keys News Bureau/HO)Ernest Hemingway look-alikes begin pushing life-size, fake bulls during the "Running of the Bulls" Saturday, July 20, 2013, in Key West, Fla. The hijinks spoofed the event of the same name in Pamplona, Spain, and was part of Key West's annual Hemingway Days festival that pays homage to the author who lived and wrote on the island in the 1930s. (Source: Andy Newman/FLorida Keys News Bureau/HO)Michael Groover, left, husband of food broadcast personality Paula Deen, poses with other finalists of the "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest Thursday, July 18, 2013, following the first of two preliminary contest rounds at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. Groover said that Deen "didn't make it (to the contest, but) wanted to be here to support me." Groover made the final round that is to be staged Saturday, July 20. (Source: Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)Ernest Hemingway look-alikes push life-size, fake bulls during the "Running of the Bulls" Saturday, July 20, 2013, outside Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. The hijinks spoofed the event of the same name in Pamplona, Spain, and was part of Key West's annual Hemingway Days festival that pays homage to the author who lived and wrote on the island in the 1930s. (Source: Andy Newman/FLorida Keys News Bureau/HO)Ed Lindoo cradles grandson Bryson Grant, during the first of two preliminary rounds of the "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest Thursday, July 18, 2013, at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. More than 125 Ernest Hemingway look-alikes are registered for the annual competition that is a facet of Key West's Hemingway Days festival that continues through Sunday, July 21. Lindoo was named a finalist and will be judged Saturday. July 20. (Source: Andy Newman/FLorida Keys News Bureau/HO)Matt Gineo, center, shoves birthday cake in the face of Greg Fawcett, right, after Ernest Hemingway look-alikes sang "Happy Birthday" to Ernest Hemingway Saturday, July 20, 2013, in Key West, Fla. The fun was a facet of the annual Hemingway Days festival that continues through Sunday, July 21, the 114th anniversary of Hemingway's birth. (Source: Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)
The look-alikes demonstrated "For Whom the Bull Tolls", Saturday, during the "Running of the Bulls," an offbeat spoof of the famed annual run held in Pamplona, Spain.
The event is a parody of Hemingway's novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
The Key West version is much safer. It includes a "herd" of five fake bulls on wheels that roam the streets while the look-alikes parade through historic downtown.
Hemingway Days aren't just for the men, women get in on the tributes and contests too.
A Scottish woman won the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition.
Carol Farrelly of Edinburgh earned $1,500 for "Telephone Man," announced Friday night as the best among 1,197 U.S. and international submissions.
Lorian Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's granddaughter, said Farrelly's story impressed judges for its subtlety and nuance. It recounts a boy's futile fantasies about a superhero saving his disintegrating family.
The festival ends Sunday, the 114th anniversary of the author's birth.
