Goombay

Goombay - Goombay Festival is the kickoff event of Fantasy Fest in Key West. It's the Friday and Saturday before Fantasy Fest week and features a street party with food vendors and live music. Goombay has a Caribbean theme, with reggae music and jerk chicken for sale. Most of the booths sell South Americn food like arepas but you can also get beans and rice, a Caribbean staple.

Goombay takes place in the Bahama Village section of Old Town. Food vendors line Petronia Street, and the sound stage is set up at the end of the line, for live music both nights of the festival. Locals love Goombay for its street party scene, where you can stroll through the vendors and buy chicken on a stick or pineapple drinks and see your neighboers. Visitors like Goombay because it's a lively scene for having a good time drinking, people watching, or hanging about and soaking up the Caribbean scene. Some vendors are there to sell crafts and African-themed home decor items. Look for Jamaican items at some of the booths, and some just sell pure Key West trinkets, like Christmas tree ornaments with the Southernmost Point painted on them.