The Best Festivals and Fairs in Miami this Winter

The picturesque environs of Bayfront Park in Miami is the setting for one of Miami’s most distinguished art events coming to the city this winter. Featuring a richly diverse array of media and design elements hailing from both North America and across the pond in Europe, the fair will play host to an elite array of art dealers specialising in modern and contemporary art. Guests will flock here to enjoy the elegant fine arts, film and video screenings and other special events as Miami’s arts season gets into full swing. (Photo: Art Concept Fair)

As the world’s fastest developing region, Africa’s cultural reach is widening at a serious rate of knots. Nowhere will this be more evident than at Miami’s Historic Virginia Key Beach Park this November when, for three days, the area will be transformed into an all-embracing celebration of African music, food, art, business, education and much more in the shape of Afrikin Fest. As well as live entertainment, there’ll be talks and panels featuring a range of African innovators and power-makers. The event will also raise proceeds for the relief effort to help areas affected by the recent Hurricane Matthew. (Photo: AfrikinFest)

No sooner will the curtain close on another epic year of art events in Miami than it will rise once again this January with the 2017 edition of Art Palm Beach International. One of the most eagerly awaited events on the city’s ram-packed annual arts calendar, Art Palm Beach will once again showcase contemporary, emerging, and modern master works of art spanning both the 20th and 2st centuries. Over 85 international galleries will be exhibiting paintings, sculpture as well as functional and innovative design in front of a captive audience of art enthusiasts, industry figures and global media. (Photo: Art Palm Beach International)

Taking place in a 55,000-square-foot structure adjacent to Spectrum Miami, another prestigious art show that forms part of Miami Art Week, Red Dot Miami features galleries showcasing over 500 leading contemporary artists – both emerging and established – and includes Art Labs, events, and informative Art Talks focused on collecting. Now in its 10th year, the five-day event attracts over 30,000 visitors, a majority of whom are high-net-worth collectors, who come to enjoy the dazzling array of cutting-edge art, entertainment and special events. (Photo: Red Dot Miami)

Spectrum has always been billed as much more than a common-or-garden arts fair. Held over five days, it is instead described by organisers as an “experience” where visitors can enjoy not only world class art but live performances, curated projects, talks, exhibitions, late night parties and much more. For this year, the show is moving to Miami’s Performing Arts District where it is expected to attract up to 30,000 attendees from the Miami art community and worldwide collectors. Among the works on display will be Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, contemporary fine art photography and surrealist sculpture. (Photo: Spectrum Miami)

With so many earnest and thought-provoking arts fairs happening in Miami across the winter months, visitors might enjoy the light relief of this wacky and frivolous event designed to parody holiday parades. Held in the historic neighbourhood of Coconut Grove, King Mango Strut attracts people of all ages and features live music, entertainment, food and drinks merchants, and an assortment of creative costumes and decorations. Now into its 35th year, it is the perfect antidote to Miami’s artsy pretensions that dominate the calendar at this time of year. The event begins with The Little Miss Mango contest for children of both sexes who get to ride on a flatbed truck at the beginning of the parade so they can wave at the crowd. Visitors should get to the parade site around noon before the streets are closed. (Photo: Robert Gill Photography)

Standing out from the crowd is no mean feat for the roster of prestigious arts events that take place in Miami each winter. But the fifth edition of the Miami Project attempts to do just that by taking place within a large structure slap bang in the heart of Miami Beach. The 2016 edition attracts top collectors and art enthusiasts from far and wide who come to peruse – and sometimes purchase – some of the top quality art on show, including works by painters, sculptors and photographers. (Photo: Miami Project)

Artists from around the world give this art festival a distinctly international flavour. Held over a full weekend, the free-to-enter event is the traditional curtain raiser for South Florida’s art festival season and it certainly puts on a show to mark the occasion. As well as the richly diverse artists displaying their wares here, there’s also a superb range of food as well as live music and entertainment for all the family. Once you’ve explored till your “art’s” content, you can then hit the local sights of South Miami, including its bustling cafes, quaint shops and pristine landscaped green spaces. (Photo: South Miami Art Festival)

Miami’s winter art fair season is positively brimming with high quality events and at the heart of this peak period is the hugely popular Miami River Art Fair. Founded by entrepreneur Nina Torres and now into its fifth year, the fair has grown into one of the standout events on Miami’s bustling cultural calendar, showcasing world-class galleries, artists and projects in front of an international audience of art enthusiasts, collectors, curators and other key industry figures. You’ll know you’re close by if you stumble across the one-of-a-kind monumental sculpture sitting imposingly on the banks of the Miami River, just outside the show. (Photo: Miami River Art Fair)

Such is Miami’s reputation for partying and beach life, even out of peak summer season, it’s tempting to imagine the city as something of a cultural desert. Yet for the last eleven years, the Pulse Contemporary Art Fair, along with numerous other winter events, has been coming to town to showcase both local and international galleries’ works. Displaying a range of different contemporary art forms, the 2016 edition of PULSE will feature large-scale sculptures, an exhibition on new media, as well as a distinguished panel discussion about issues facing the art industry. (Photo: Courtesy of PULSE Miami Beach and XX gallery)

France is the birthplace of cinema and French film continues to influence world cinema to this day. This November, France Cinema Floride will bring a selection of though-provoking and newly-released French films to the MDC Tower Theater. This year’s festival will begin with Fred Cavayé’s comedy Penny Pincher and finish with Jérôme Commandeur and Alan Corno’s My Family Already Adores You. While this year’s special guests have not been announced, previous guests have included renowned French actors Pascal Elbé and Marina Tomé. (Photo: France Cinema Floride)

There is constant competition in the art world to find the next big thing or a new trend that will take off across the world. The Scope Art Festival takes place each year with this bold ambition, and is focussed on exhibiting works from emerging artists and exposing new galleries to the mainstream market. The event will return to Miami Beach for its 16th edition this year, providing a platform for 125 exhibitors from 22 different countries, and is expected to attract even more visitors than last year, when around 50,000 people descended on the show. (Photo: Scope Art)