On Friday, July 4, those that share a ardour for pie and Florida’s most sensational citrus are invited to the sandy shore of the Southernmost Seashore Café, 1405 Duval Avenue, the place the 2025 World Well-known Key Lime Pie Consuming Championship will take middle stage.
A tart and tangy twist on New York’s traditional Fourth of July hotdog-eating contest, the Key Lime pie showdown has grown into a practice since its 2013 launch. Every year, as much as 25 contestants plunge face-first into 9-inch whipped-cream-topped Key lime pies, racing in opposition to their opponents and the clock, with no palms allowed.
Final yr’s champ, Hector Rodriguez of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, devoured his pie in a powerful 1 minute, 58.52 seconds. However the report to beat stays a blistering 40.57 seconds, achieved in 2018 by legal professional Trey Bergman of Houston, who additionally claimed victory in 2017 with a time of 51.92 seconds. Key West locals have seen their share of triumph too: Chris Shultz in 2022: 74 seconds; David Johnson in 2019: 58.2 seconds; Steve Carr in 2015: 78 seconds; Tony Mantia in 2014: time not recorded; and Gary Delos Santos in 2013; time not recorded.
“There are consuming contests everywhere in the world, however none match the mess — or the magic — of ours,” stated Nadene Grossman Orr, Key Lime Competition director/CEO of We’ve Bought the Keys. “It’s the Southernmost in the usA. and essentially the most spectacularly sloppy.”
Key lime pies, declared the official state pie in 2006 by the Florida Legislature, are historically made with condensed milk, egg yolks and the juice of Key limes inside a graham cracker crust and topped with whipped cream or meringue.
The competition on the Southernmost Seashore Café kicks off at 1:30 p.m. however the points of interest start at 10 a.m. with the opening of the Key Lime Vendor Village, and music, video games and actions beginning at 11 a.m.
The pie-eating competitors is the centerpiece occasion of the pageant, which runs July 2-6. Offered partly by the Monroe County Vacationer Growth Council and We’ve Bought the Keys, admission to the competitors is free. The fee to compete is $30 with on-line pre-registration or $50 on the day of the occasion. It’s open to these aged 18 and up. Extra data is at keylimefestival.com.
