Saturday, December 13, 2008

Florida Keys waters will be lit up with holiday cheer this weekend, as several municipalities celebrate their annual holiday boat parades.

• Key West's event is at 8 tonight in the Key West Bight.

The Schooner Wharf Bar/Captain Morgan Lighted Boat Parade will proceed around the Historic Seaport and harbor areas, with the judges' stand at the Schooner Wharf Bar, 202 William St.

Before the parade, at 6:30 p.m., the Gerald Adams Ele-mentary School Steel Your Heart Band will welcome spectators with songs of the season. During the parade, Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 band will blend rock with island rhythms and a little country until midnight. Prizes will be awarded to the most creatively bedecked boats.

• Key Colony Beach will have its boat parade beginning at dusk Sunday.

The parade route begins at the Seventh Street canal and winds in and out of neighboring canals. The best public-viewing locations include the Sadowski Causeway at Mile Marker 53.5, oceanside, and the area behind City Hall, where the boats will pass three times.

• Key Largo celebrates "Groovin' in the '60s" starting at 8 tonight.

Boats will proceed from the bayfront area of Blackwater Sound, at about Mile Marker 103. Boats will line up at the headpin to Dusenbury Creek and continue north along the shoreline to the tip of Stillwright Point. Viewing and libations are to be found at Sundowners, Señor Frijoles, the Marriott Key Largo Bay Resort and the Caribbean Club.