Conch Republic Birthday Party - Key West

Key West is in the middle of its 44th annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration, a 10-day island festival running from April 17 through April 26. (conchrepublic.com) The official Conch Republic schedule lists daily headquarters hours from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Key West Historic Seaport and bills the celebration as more than 30 events over 10 days. (conchrepublic.com) Florida Rambler’s 2026 festival calendar says the birthday party includes more than 20 activities, including a pirate bash, quirky races and a “sea-to-sea” parade in Key West. (floridarambler.com) The event marks the 1982 founding of the Conch Republic, Key West’s tongue-in-cheek “secession” after a United States Border Patrol roadblock on U.S. 1 slowed traffic into the Florida Keys. (destinationfloridakeys.com) That protest became an annual civic ritual built around satire, tourism and local identity; the Conch Republic’s official site says the 2026 theme celebrates Key West’s “One Human Family” and the diversity of its residents and visitors. (conchrepublic.com) This year’s schedule opened April 17 with a beach cleanup at Higgs Beach, an opening ceremony and flag raising at Mallory Square, and the 41st annual Schooner Wharf Bar kick-off party and conch shell blowing contest. (conchrepublic.com) Events continuing this week include the parade party and awards ceremony on Thursday, April 23, the Great Sea Battle and victory party on Friday, April 24, and the Pirates Ball and pirate costume competition on Saturday, April 25. (keywesthistoricseaport.com) The official promotion also points visitors to pocket guides, souvenir sales and Conch Republic passports at the seaport welcome center, framing the celebration as both a street festival and a tourism draw. (conchrepublic.com) The party wraps on Sunday, April 26, closing another April in which Key West turns a 1982 political stunt into a citywide birthday celebration. (conchrepublic.com)