By Andrew Collins
Gay & Lesbian Travel Expert, about.com
Although Miami Beach has been home for some time to an increasingly popular Pride event geared toward African-Americans and Latinos in the GLBT community (Miami Beach Bruthaz, held in July), the city hadn't had an across-the-community, full-scale, city-supported Gay Pride Festival before 2009. Now, in mid-April each year, the city celebrates the Miami Beach Gay Pride Festival - this year Miami Pride takes place over the weekend of April 8-10, 2016. The big day (of the parade and festival) is Sunday, April 10, and it typically draws more than 130,000 participants and observers. It's set along the city's fabled Ocean Drive and features a slew of high-profile performers.
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A
handful of events related to the Gay Pride Festival took place
throughout the city during the days leading up to Pride, at a variety of
venues - here's a schedule of activities,
including a Miami Beach Gay Pride Legacy Couples Reception, a Rainbow
Flag Raising Ceremony, Pride mixers and parties, and all sorts of other
fun times during the big weekend.
The two-day Miami Gay Pride Festival (held Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10) takes place in Lummus Park, at Ocean Drive between 11th and 14th streets,
from 1 pm until 10 pm each evening, with world-renowned DJ Joe
Gauthreaux getting the crowd dancing starting around 6 pm both evenings.
What you'll also find are more than 100 GLBT-friendly businesses,
organizations, and social groups exhibiting during the festival, and
entertainment taking place on a Main Stage and Latin Stage.
At noon on Sunday, April 10, the 8th Annual Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade, with its many colorful floats, runs along Ocean Drive from 7th to 15th streets, amid the dozens of handsomely restored hotels and buildings in Miami Beach's spectacular Art Deco historic district.
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are also some key events of interest to the gay community held later in
April, following Pride, including film screenings at MiFo, the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
(this takes place a bit after Pride, from April 22 through May 1, 2016,
at five different venues throughout Miami Beach and Miami proper) and AIDS Walk Miami 2016,
which takes place this year on Sunday, April 24. Mark your calendars
farther down the road if you're a fan of LGBT films, as the Fort
Lauderdale edition of MiFo LGBT Film Festival takes later this year,
from October 7 through October 16, which based on last year's calendar
is also likely when Fort Lauderdale Pridefest 2016 will be taking place.
Following Pride Weekend, from April 11 through April 15, there's going to be a four-day Miami Beach 2016 Gay Pride Cruise. Once again it's taking place on the Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas - the four-night/five-day journey calls on Nassau and Cococay in the Bahamas and the ever fabulous town of Key West. You can book your Pride Cruise here.
Miami Beach Gay Resources
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in mind that numerous gay bars as well as gay-popular restaurants,
hotels, and shops have special events and parties throughout Miami Gay
Pride weekend. Check helpful gay websites, such as SoBeGayInfo.com, Mark's List on South Beach, HotSpots Magazine, and SoBeSocialClub.com for information. Also take a look at our Fort Lauderdale Gay Bars and Restaurants Guide,
as Broward County is just a short drive north. You can also obtain
gay-specific tourism information on Miami and Miami Beach from the
excellent GLBT Travel Guide produced by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau as well as the site of the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
