Venues in Miami

Miami is an international city on the southeastern tip of Florida. There are many Cubans living in the city, especially noticeable on Calle Ocho in the Little Havana district, where traditional Cuban cafes and cigar shops are open. On the barrier islands in the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay, charming Miami Beach is home to colorful Art Deco buildings, white-sand South Beach, hotels near surf spots and trendy nightclubs.

Miami enjoys a vibrant culture that is influenced by a diverse population from all around the world. Miami is known as the "Magic City" for seemingly popping up overnight due to its young age and massive growth. The city itself is infamous for its drug war in the early 1980s and its outrun aesthetics. It is also nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America" because of its high population of Spanish-speakers.

Miami has been the setting of numerous films and television shows, including Miami Vice, Cocaine Cowboys, Burn Notice, Jane the Virgin, Scarface, The Birdcage, Ballers, South Beach Tow, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Ride Along 2, Love & Hip Hop: Miami, Kourtney & Kim Take Miami, The Golden Girls, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Dexter. Several video games, including Hotline Miami, the Gameloft racing game Asphalt Overdrive, Scarface: The World Is Yours, and the fictional Vice City in several video games across the Grand Theft Auto series, most notably Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI, is based on Miami.

Entertainment and performing arts

In addition to annual festivals like the Calle Ocho Festival, Miami is home to many entertainment venues, theaters, museums, parks and performing arts centers. The newest addition to the Miami arts scene is the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Florida Grand Opera and the second-largest performing arts center in the United States after Lincoln Center in New York City. The center attracts many large-scale operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals from around the world. Other performing arts venues in Miami include the Olympia Theater, Wertheim Performing Arts Center, the Fair Expo Center, the Tower Theater, and the Bayfront Park Amphitheater.

Another celebrated event is the Miami International Film Festival, taking place every year for 10 days around the first week of March, during which independent international and American films are screened across the city. Miami has over a half dozen independent film theaters.

Miami attracts a large number of musicians, singers, actors, dancers, and orchestral players. The city has numerous orchestras, symphonies and performing art conservatories. These include the Florida Grand Opera, FIU School of Music, Frost School of Music, and the New World School of the Arts.

Miami is also a major fashion center, home to models and some of the top modeling agencies in the world. The city is host to many fashion shows and events, including the annual Miami Fashion Week and the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami, held in the Wynwood Art District.

Museums and visual arts

Some of the museums in Miami include the Frost Art Museum, Frost Museum of Science, HistoryMiami, Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami Children's Museum, Pérez Art Museum, Lowe Art Museum, and the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a National Historic Landmark set on a 28-acre early 20th century estate in Coconut Grove.