Florida Keys' kicked off bicentennial celebration
KEY WEST - Some 250 drones illuminated the sky above Key West's historic waterfront Saturday night in a dazzling "fireworks" display that capped the opening event of the Florida Keys' bicentennial celebration.
The drone extravaganza highlighted the "200 Years of Paradise Kick-off Concert" saluting the 200th anniversary of the Florida Territorial Legislature's founding of Monroe County, which contains the entire Florida Keys island chain, on July 3, 1823.
Festivities featured performances by musician Nick Norman and headliner Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band, Keys heritage presentations by Monroe County commissioners and big-screen video segments illustrating the Keys vibrant two-century history.
To accompany Livingston's Keys-inspired signature song "Blame It On the Margaritas," he and the five commissioners prepared margaritas onstage using a 1952 Johnson outboard motor as a blender - and raised their glasses in a toast to the Keys just minutes before the drone show began.
As about 4,500 spectators observed and applauded, the drones lit up the sky and formed symbols ranging from a sailfish and conch shell to a Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad train - all representing the subtropical island chain and its history.
Bicentennial events are to be staged around the Keys in the coming months to commemorate the historic anniversary and the islands' colorful past.
They include Naval Air Station Key West's Southernmost Air Spectacular, starring the famed Blue Angels and honoring two centuries of the U.S. Navy's presence in Key West; a sea-to-table dinner in Islamorada spotlighting local chefs and fishing captains; and Bicentennial Day celebrations and fireworks July 3 in the Lower Keys, to feature the creation of the world's largest Key lime pie.