These are the best things to do in Miami this weekend

The name may say jazz, but Miami's beloved two-day festival at Hard Rock Stadium has always been more accurately described as a celebration of Black music in all its forms — R&B, hip-hop, soul, neo-soul and everything in between. Now in its 19th year, the 2026 edition is stacked. Jhené Aiko headlines night one, bringing her signature quiet-storm energy and emotionally charged catalog. Night two closes with Ludacris performing a special 25th anniversary set of his debut album, Back for the First Time — expect a trip. Nelly and Ashanti also headline the weekend, leaning into the early-2000s nostalgia the festival does so well, while legacy acts the Isley Brothers, Stephanie Mills and El DeBarge round out a lineup built to hit deep for a certain generation. GloRilla and Ella Mai also take the stage, and D-Nice hosts a full "Club Quarantine" experience featuring SWV, Robin Thicke, Case and more. A major surprise guest is still to be announced. Beyond the performances, the festival kicks off Friday with an Opening Night Party and a Women's Impact Luncheon, making it a full cultural weekend rather than just a concert.

The World Baseball Classic is international baseball's biggest stage — players represent their home countries rather than their MLB teams, and this year Miami is where it all ends. Spanning Tokyo, San Juan, Houston and Miami, loanDepot Park hosts pool play March 6–11, then the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game. The rosters are genuinely stacked: the Dominican Republic brings Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.; Japan — the three-time defending champion — fields Shohei Ohtani and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto; and Team USA, widely considered its most talented roster in WBC history, is captained by Aaron Judge alongside Bryce Harper and Paul Skenes. Championship game March 17 at loanDepot Park.

It's carnaval season in Miami! The more refined sibling of Calle Ocho, Carnaval on the Mile takes over Coral Gables' Miracle Mile for a free two-day festival with a decidedly glitzier crowd. Now in its 27th year, the event features three stages with a mix of jazz, funk, Latin jazz and blues, plus over 100 art vendors showing everything from paintings and photography to sculpture and jewelry. Food vendors line the street and kids have their own dedicated zone with face painting, a petting zoo and live performances.

For the uninitiated, the annual Florida Renaissance Festival is a portal to the fantastical 16th century, where for eight consecutive weekends you can party like they did in Game of Thrones, with giant turkey legs, endless goblets of mead and, of course, blood-pumping tournament jousting. From February through March, shaded nature trails of Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach fill with food stands and pubs, jewelry and crystal shoppes, performance stages, rides, games and a bustling Promenade that runs from 10am until sunset.

On Saturdays and Sundays, lace up your festive garb and make the pilgrimage to partake in the revelry. From one-man Shakespearean theater performances to canon demonstrations, swashbuckling pirate performers, Celtic singers and wise-cracking wenches, no minute of daylight is wasted. Drinking-age adults will appreciate options like the Pub Crawl ticket, which includes a multi-stop tour of the festival's pubs with stories, jokes and toasts along the way. Families will likewise find merriment in kid-friendly activities like the raucous parade each afternoon at 12:30 and the Puppies of Penance canine show. Each weekend's schedule is posted in advance, with fun themes around Valentine's, St. Patrick’s Day and more.

Bal Harbour Shops is about to get a serious springtime glow-up. From February 27 through March 8, the iconic open-air shopping destination plays host to the worldwide launch of Fleurs de Villes FLORA, a 10-day immersive floral exhibition that transforms the mall and surrounding village into a runway of couture floristry. Produced by internationally acclaimed flower show creators Fleurs de Villes, the free public showcase features more than 25 one-of-a-kind fresh floral installations, including the brand's signature floral mannequins crafted by some of Miami's own local florists. Luxury boutiques like Brunello Cucinelli, Diptyque and Gianvito Rossi will each be adorned with their own stunning arrangements, while a goddess-inspired showstopper inspired by Flora herself greets visitors in the lobby of The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort next door. Best of all, guests can vote for their favorite mannequin for a chance to win a luxury overnight stay and a Bal Harbour Shops experience package worth $2,650. Miami is just the first stop on the North American tour, so consider this your bragging rights moment.

Gilded and crimson-draped Faena Theater is the ideal venue to experience OBSESSION, a new original production presented by Faena Live in collaboration with the Quixotic performance art collective. Nestled in Mid-Beach, the cabaret-style show blends live vocals, choreography and cinematic storytelling to take guests on a seductive 1.5-hour journey complete with lasers, projected visuals and plenty of theatrical haze. Helmed by emcee Sophia Bollman—whose credits include a stint on NBC's The Voice as part of Team Miley Cyrus and backup singing in Beyoncé's iconic Coachella performances—Faena Theater's 2026 headlining production also features the energetic stylings of Principal Violin and Musical Lead Kostia Lucky. Tickets start at $100 per person and include show admission only (food and beverages sold separately). Guests must be 18 or older, with a valid ID required upon arrival.

Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency presents Sepia Vernacular, an exhibition that places Overtown’s past back into public view. Drawn from the City of Miami Planning Department archives, the show features more than 80 rare photographs from the 1920s–1950s, including selections from Max Waldman’s 1947 Color Town series, documenting daily life across the streets, businesses, families, and social spaces that seldom make it into Miami’s official histories. The exhibition will be taking place at the newly restored Lawson E. Thomas Building, which once served as the office of Miami-Dade County’s first Black judge and a central figure in the city’s civil rights movement. A newly commissioned mural by Anthony Mojo Reed II adds contemporary context which, together with the archival photo exhibition, frames Overtown as essential to understanding Miami, not peripheral to it.

The great Montreal contemporary-circus troupe brings its Luzia production to South Florida, performing cutting-edge acrobatics and tightly choreographed dance numbers amid lavish costumes and set pieces. This show, written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, is inspired by the culture of Mexico. Running February 19 through April 25 at Gulfstream Park, Luzia takes audiences through a series of surrealistic scenes, from an old movie set to a smoky dance hall, an arid desert, and even a cenote. It's a dream-like, sensory exploration of Mexico's past and present, packed with awe-inspiring moments—including rain incorporated into acrobatic and artistic scenes (a first for a Cirque du Soleil touring production).

"Belkis Ayón and Carlos Alfonzo: Odyssey" at MOAD at Miami Dade College’s Freedom Tower pairs two influential Cuban artists whose work explores mythology, spirituality and the search for freedom through bold, symbolic imagery. Presented in dialogue, the show highlights their lasting impact and shared themes shaped by migration, resilience and cultural identity. The exhibition is on view through May 10.

After sell-out runs in Paris, Rome, and Milan, From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce&Gabbana arrives in Miami, opening February 6 at ICA Miami and running through June 14, 2026. The exhibition offers a rare look inside the creative universe of designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, tracing how their ideas move from inspiration to execution—all by hand. Curated by Florence Müller and produced by IMG, the show brings together more than 300 Alta Moda pieces, set within immersive installations and shown alongside works by contemporary artists, celebrating the artisanry, excess, and exuberance of Italian aesthetics. 

The Coconut Grove Farmers Market is probably Miami’s most well-known. Every Saturday, Homestead's Glaser Organic Farms transforms an unoccupied corner of Coconut Grove into a full-fledged produce market with dozens of fruit and vegetable stands, a raw bar featuring prepared foods and salads and coolers filled with cold-pressed juices and nut mylks. There’s even velvety vegan ice cream for sale and several rows of picnic tables where you can sit and enjoy your bounty. Along its periphery, you’ll find other local vendors selling honey, homemade soaps, handmade jewelry and other artisanal items. And the setup and breakdown are so fascinating to watch! Much like the circus leaving town, everyone quickly dismantles their tents and packs up just after sunset, leaving no trace of the bustling day on the empty gravel lot.

Elliot & Erick Jiménez: El Monte is the Cuban twin photography duo’s first solo museum exhibition, marking their leap from award-winning image makers for the likes of Prada, Tiffany’s, Bad Bunny and Selena Gomez to multi-disciplinary artists on an institutional stage. Inspired by the Afro-Caribbean spiritual tradition of Lucumí and Lydia Cabrera’s seminal text El Monte, the show centers on a womb-like, chapel-meets-forest installation alongside photographs and sculptural works that explore spirituality, ancestry and identity. 

Art, sexuality and cultural taboos converge at the Museum of Sex with the debut of its latest exhibition, Hard Art: Unruly Selections from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection. Explore decades of boundary-pushing works spanning the 1930s to today, pulled from the private collection of one of the world’s most dynamic collectors. From playful to profound and, at times, deemed too provocative for public display, the featured works include a wide range of media that challenges convention and invites conversation. Curated with the goal of amplifying underrepresented voices and celebrating uncensored expression, artists on view include Marco Brambilla, Jimmy DeSana, Bunny Yeager, John Kayser and others.

Going strong for over two decades, the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami hosts another edition of its Jazz at MOCA live music series on the plaza. Every last Friday of the month, the free outdoor concert merges art, music and community while platforming Miami's thriving live jazz scene. This month, Lisanne Lyons headlines. Having performed with the Woody Herman Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau and Arturo Sandoval, among others, she is currently the director and founder of the jazz vocal program at Florida International University. Seating for the show is first-come, first-served and begins at 7pm. Free registration also includes access to the MOCA galleries until 10pm.