Make Way for Goombay

Related Content

• Miami's Best Albums of 2011: Betty Wright and The Roots' The Movie
  December 21, 2011
• Miami's best albums, EPs, and mixtapes of 2011
  December 22, 2011
• Betty Wright Preemptively Rips Black Eyed Peas Terrible Super Bowl Halftime Show
  February 9, 2011
• Goombay Goodwill
  May 26, 2011
• Blow This
  September 22, 2011

More About

• Betty Wright
• Royal Bahamas Police Force
• Festivals and Parades

Miami’s revelers always visit the other half of Coconut Grove’s Grand Avenue — the commercialized strip that’s home to chain retailers and college bars. The other half — which contains rundown buildings and shady lounges with tinted windows — typically gets nary a glance as cars cruise to their highfalutin destinations. But not this weekend, culture lovers. It’s time for the annual Miami/Bahamas Goombay Festival, which for 32 years has been uniting well-to-do Grovites, the residents of the Bahamian Village, and anyone looking for live music, a colorful parade, and lots of island-style fun in the heart of Miami’s pedestrian paradise.

The historic fete is touted as the largest black heritage festival, and it celebrates the legacy of the first black settlers to arrive in Miami — Bahamian craftsmen brought here to help build Coconut Grove’s first hotel. The official opening will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, with live music and festivities in Peacock Park. On Saturday, the street festival will commence at the intersection of Grand and Douglas Road at 11 a.m. and take over the thoroughfare until 8 p.m. with costumed revelers, syncopated rhythms, and live performances by soul singer Betty Wright as well as the Royal Bahamas Police Band.
Fri., June 6; Sat., June 7, 2008