Thursday, October 29
Just because Miami feels like summer in mid-October doesn't mean the city can't participate in all of those warm-and-fuzzy fall traditions. Getting back into the autumnal action, the folks of the Art & Entertainment District present another installment of their cozy series, S'mores Under the Moonlight.
Held at Canvas Miami (90 NE 17th St., Miami), S'mores Under the Moonlight welcomes locals to a night of bonding around the bonfire but with fewer lame summer-camp connotations. The adults-only event will feature music by Miami legends Spam Allstars, plus an opening set by multilingual multi-instrumentalist Javier Garcia, known for blending genres such as hip-hop, funk, and reggae with world rhythms. Guests can satisfy their sweets cravings with free fireside s'mores, along with coffee from Vice City Bean and other treats by Mad Chiller and Exquisito Fine Chocolates. MV My Food Truck and Ms. Cheezious will provide some much-needed comfort food, while hand-crafted organic cocktails from Airstream Apothecary will kick things up a notch.
S'mores Under the Moonlight begins at 7 p.m. Thursday and is free and open to those 21 and older. RSVP is required. Call 305-625-0949 or visit aedistrictmiami.com.
Miami City Ballet began its 30th season last week with a performance of the classic Swan Lake, and the company's upcoming schedule promises plenty of notable performances, including The Nutcracker and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In anticipation of Midsummer in March 2016, MCB will host Open Barre: Dance and Design, a discussion featuring MCB artistic director Lourdes Lopez and artist Michelle Oka Doner and moderated by costume and design historian Tanya Williams Wetenhall. The conversation on all things graceful and elegant will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Miami City Ballet Studios (2200 Liberty Ave., Miami Beach), and tickets cost $35.
In addition to Open Barre, the MCB is relaunching its youth initiative, Young Patrons Group Upper Room, the same night. Immediately following the dance and design discussion, Upper Room members and guests are invited to an intimate party, which will include complimentary drinks and bites, at Klima (210 23rd St., Miami Beach). To become an Upper Room member, email [email protected]. Call 305-929-7010 or visit miamicityballet.org.
Friday, October 30
If anyone appreciates a good costume party, it's the LGBTQ community. You've been to Pride Parade, right? It should go without saying that an LGBTQ-supportive Halloween party is one for the books, and any chance you get to mix pleasure with charity is a double-whammy of awesome.
For more than two decades, the SAVE Foundation has celebrated Halloween with an all-out ghastly bash, and this year's edition is prepped to be a blowout. SAVE Halloween 21 will turn Magic City Casino (450 NW 37th Ave., Miami) into a graveyard smash. Sets by DJs Citizen Jane, Bill James, and Alex Ramos will have you moving and grooving — no "Monster Mash" necessary. And performances by Tiffany Fantasia, TP Lords, and Fantasia Royale will have you shrieking with joy. Ghoulish spirits will be provided by Grey Goose and Bacardi, the latter's logo being a spooky bat. Coincidence? Wear your scariest and/or sexiest costume for a chance to win $1,000 in SAVE's costume contest. Best of all, proceeds support SAVE's mission of LGBTQ equality.
The party starts Thursday at 10 p.m. Ticket prices range from $75 for general admission to $750 for VIP tables. Call 305-649-3000 or visit save.lgbt.
How many people get to spend Halloween partying at a National Historic Landmark, let alone one with killer views of the bay? For nearly three decades, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens has been one of the most beloved Miami spots to spend the fall holiday, and the 29th edition of its Halloween bash promises to be as memorable as ever.
The annual Halloween Sundowner promises a night of food, drinks, and live music from improvisational band Spam Allstars and DJ A-Train. In addition to the scenic views of Biscayne Bay, the event's biggest draw is its epic costume contest, which includes three categories: best male, best female, and best group costumes. Popular radio host Joy Taylor will MC the festivities, energizing revelers throughout the night.
The Halloween Sundowner begins Friday at 8 p.m. at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens (3251 S. Miami Ave., Miami) and is for those 21 and older only. Tickets cost $165 for general admission and include access to five full bars, brewing companies, food selections, and entertainment. All proceeds benefit the preservation of Vizcaya. Call 305-860-8404 or visit vizcayahalloween.org.
This past February, Bay Skate rocked downtown Miami with a blowout bash, orchestrating the ultimate old-school nostalgia on wheels. Now the event is back for its second installment, and this time it's Halloween-themed. The brainchild of brothers Marcos and Alex Macias, Bay Skate won the Miami Foundation's Public Space Challenge in 2014, and February's inaugural run drew plenty of attention.
The October installment is extra-special because it kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday and runs until midnight, allowing guests to ring in All Hallows' Eve on skates. "For this special Halloween edition, we are extending our hours until midnight and welcoming our guests to bring their costumes for a first-of-its-kind downtown skate jam," Alex says.
There will be four DJs spinning old-school funk, freestyle, soul, and other mixed-genre classics, curated by 222 Productions; an expanded list of food trucks; craft beer; and new signature cocktails. "You never know what other surprises may be in store, but it is a night of tricks and treats after all, right?" he adds.
There will be two skate sessions — one for families from 5 to 7 p.m. and an adult run from 7 to midnight — at Bayfront Park (301 Biscayne Blvd., Miami). Visit facebook.com/bayskatemiami.
Saturday, October 31
For the most part, nobody really plans on being up all night, but sometimes it just happens. This Halloween, though, very much in horror-movie fashion, remaining awake is essential at Coral Gables Art Cinema (260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables). The Secret Celluloid Society is keeping everyone Up All Nite with four 35mm horror classics back-to-back.
Beginning at 11:30 p.m., the ten-hour event begins with John Carpenter's essential '80s feature, The Thing. Following that is Night of the Demons at 2:30 a.m., with filmmaker Kevin Tenney in attendance. At 4:30 a.m., the perfect hour for surreal cinema, comes David Lynch's Eraserhead. Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre finishes the marathon at 7:30 a.m. the following day. It's a diverse set of films and a hell of an evening for those attempting to stay awake through it all, but the weaker-willed can make their way through whichever ones they choose.
Tickets for each film can be purchased separately for $7 at the theater or by visiting gablescinema.com, and each ticket includes popcorn. So pick and choose your poison this Saturday or stay through the whole night of fun with a ton of enthusiastic but incredibly sleep-deprived individuals.
When Halloween hits and you spend it sitting on the porch handing out sugary treats to ungrateful brats (again), you'll probably wish you were doing something different. This year, mix it up and go where the family-friendly action is: Halloween on the Mile.
Coral Gables' annual Halloween extravaganza has everything from face-painting to photo ops to ridiculously adorable dogs in costume. It's an afternoon and evening of nonstop entertainment, and you'll be free to enjoy without the colossal candy bill.
There will be a Read to Learn reading circle at Books & Books; a photo op with props at Macanoco & Co.; face painting at Nina & Loli; songs from Disney musicals at Actors' Playhouse; a kiddie costume contest at the Miracle Theatre; and all kinds of other activities to entertain you.
So maybe skip giving away candy this year (this is America — the kids get enough sugar), and spend your afternoon with Dachshunds dressed as hot dogs and epic balloon animals.
Halloween on the Mile begins at 2 p.m. Saturday on Miracle Mile. Admission is free. Call 305-569-0311 or visit shopcoralgables.com.
When you were a kid, the best part of Halloween was donning a costume and going door-to-door gathering candy from all the gracious neighbors. Now you're an adult, and you've got to either have a kid or borrow someone else's to relive the fun. It's kind of a raw deal. Life is unfair.
What if there were a way for people 21 and older to have all the fun of trick-or-treating while surrounded by their peers? In a move of absolute Halloween magic, four South Miami bars have banded together to make your sad grownup existence a relic of the past. It's Last Call Pub Crawl, and come Saturday night, you and your friends can dress up and recapture the magic of trick-or-treating, but with beer. Mellow Mushroom (5701 Sunset Dr.), Sunset Tavern (7232 SW 59th Ave.), the Irish Times (5850 Sunset Dr.), and Bougie's (7221 SW 58th Ave.), in that order, will open their doors to ticketed guests from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Get to Mellow Mushroom when the fun begins, and crawl along the road with your beer-drinking brethren. Each stop will offer exclusive drink specials, including a free shot. Tickets cost $20 presale. Call 786-529-5598 or visit lastcallpubcrawls.com.
This Halloween, Miami Beach will receive a dash of class and danger in its cocktail of costumes. Late-night lounge Rec Room will host Brooklyn producer and DJ Sammy Bananas. The Fool's Gold veteran brings a sleek, funky style full of quirky grooves, a healthy obsession with pop music, and a resumé that includes remixes for the likes of Chromeo and Maroon 5. Employing a bit of the old and the new in dance, Sammy Bananas is a nice fit for Rec Room's James Bond Halloween Party. While sipping martinis, all the dapper Sean Connerys, Pierce Brosnans, and Daniel Craigs can practice their best Bond lines dripping with sexual innuendo on every Honey Ryder, Strawberry Fields, and Holly Goodhead. Of course, if they don't want to find their crotches in mortal peril, like a Goldfinger laser bearing down on their pistols, Miami's 007s had better not get the ladies too shaken or stirred.
Festivities begin at 11 p.m. Saturday at Rec Room (1690 Collins Ave., Miami). Admission is free. Call 786-975-2555 or visit recroomies.com.
Wednesday, November 4
Media has come a long way since the age of film reels and VHS. Remember "Be kind, rewind"? Those were the days.
Though old-school technology might seem useless in our digital age, the truth is that new media is just a mix of everything old. Hence the premise behind Media Makers' Mashup, a meetup designed to introduce creatives of all kinds to millions of feet of film and thousands of hours of video, waiting in the Wolfson Archives.
The archives are a searchable database of the history, cultures, and people of Florida, with more content being posted online as you read this. The materials are primed and ready, and now the archives are open to your artistic ideas. All that's old is new again, so pop in and make some media magic.
The event kicks off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cannonball (1035 N. Miami Ave., Ste. 300, Miami.) Admission is free. Visit facebook.com/cannonballmiami.
Eating gourmet cuisine for a good cause is guilt-free dining at its best. South Florida residents and visitors have access to some of the world's best food, but the chefs responsible rarely get out of the kitchen long enough to take credit. Thanks to Easter Seals' 27th-annual Festival of Chefs, Miami's finest get to share their signature dishes and latest creations with culinary peers and the public, all while benefiting Easter Seals South Florida's Culinary Arts High School, a vocational training program for students ages 16 through 22 with autism and other disabilities.
This year, chef, author, and TV personality Adrianne Calvo of Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Bar will be the event's celebrity chef. Calvo will be joined by a slew of other toques, including Tim Andriola of Basil Park, Kareem Anguin of the Oceanaire Seafood Room, and Assia Dahrouch of Lemoni Café. In addition to presenting a multicourse feast, Festival of Chefs will feature an extensive silent auction of original paintings, sculptures, multimedia artworks, fine wines, luxury vacations, and upscale merchandise.
Festival of Chefs will take place Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Nikki Beach (1 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach). Tickets cost $125. Call 305-547-4719 or visit easterseals.com.
