One of the best ways to enjoy spring in Miami, Florida is with the Carnaval. The city may not need the excuse to party, but Latino Miami doesn't hold back with its 10 day fiesta that is held within a 23-block street in Little Havana.
in Spanish. It's a one-way street packed with coffee shops, cafes, bakeries, beauty salons, flea markets and art galleries where you can load up on feel-good music from salsa to merengue and pig out on delicious treats without worries. As you can walk all the calories off while having a good time.
The Calle Ocho festival is one of the elements of the Carnaval Miami. Carnaval on the Mile, the weekend before the main event, is a two-day art festival on the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. Attendees and travelers walk the mile, enjoy works of different type of artists, listen to music and taste food and drinks from the local restaurants.
Additional events during the entire festival of Carnaval Miami and Calle Ocho include the Miss Carnaval Miami pageant, a Carnaval Miami fun run, cooking contests, domino tournaments, golf and soccer.
Here, you'll also find the Cuban Memorial Plaza, a collection of statues in the middle of a street median. The seven monuments commemorate the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuban independence fighter Antonio Maceo and the anti-communist heroin, Tony Izquierdo.
It's hard to see a city during a festival, because you don't quite usually get the sense of place when everything is seemingly just day-to-day normal activity, especially for this community. Check out Little Havana either before or after the festival activities, and see how the spirit carries through every day.
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