Get Ready for Food Festival Season

The Culture Edit, January 26th-February 8th

Author

Susan Bannon
January 25, 2026

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival runs February 19th-22nd. Photo: SOBE WFF.

In addition to tourists and vultures, Miami’s (mostly) glorious winter weather brings us a full calendar of food festivals, kicking off February 7th-8th with the third annual EEEEEATSCON, hosted by foodie ratings source The Infatuation.

Fortunately, this fest makes up for its truly terrible name with a killer lineup of local and national chefs, including the teams from Macchialina, Walrus Rodeo, Apocalypse BBQ, Sushi Yasu Tanaka….and the list goes on.

Next up is Smorgasburg Miami’s fourth annual Chinese New Year Festival, this time on Lincoln Road, celebrating the Year of the Horse with performances and craft workshops alongside local vendors showing off their best versions of Asian street food.

On February 27th, the 48th annual St. Sophia’s Greek Festival opens its doors for four days of homemade Greek food, dancing, and ouzo (very popular).

But the mac daddy of Miami’s food fests is indisputably the South Beach Wine & Food Festival February 19th-22nd, expected to welcome over 65,000 food fanatics for four days of celebrity burger bashes and champagne fried chicken pairings on the sands of Miami Beach. Tickets went on sale last week, and spots for the special events and dinners typically sell out well in advance, despite their eye-popping prices. So if you want to dine with Rachel Ray or Samantha of The Naughty Fork, you’d better book it now.

Let’s get planning…

Jump to: Music, Theater, Indie Cinema, Dance, Art Events, Opera, or Planning Ahead

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, please share it! If you’re not a subscriber yet, you can sign up by email or by text - or both!

Theater

Sotto Voce

Gablestage presents Sotto Voce, a lyrical meditation on memory, longing, and the legacy of the Holocaust, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics). The plot follows a young Jewish-Cuban researcher obsessed with the MS St. Louis, leading him to an 80-year-old novelist who is still haunted by the love she lost aboard the doomed voyage.

Through February 15th, 7:30pm evenings, 2pm matinees, Gablestage at the Biltmore, $40-$60

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Miami New Drama: English Only

Following the success of last year’s Dangerous Days, journalist and author Nicholas Griffin returns with another brand new work for Miami New Drama, English Only. Set in Miami in 1980, English Only unfolds in the wake of the Mariel Boatlift, when 125,000 new arrivals to South Florida ignited a fierce grassroots campaign to make English the county’s sole language - sparking a showdown with activists determined to keep Miami-Dade bilingual.

January 29th-February 22nd, Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre, $40-$85

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

More Upcoming Theater:

  • February 5th-22nd: City Theatre presents How to Break in a Glove, a story of one Cuban-American family’s struggle to fit in and hold tight to each other in 1990’s Miami, at the Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht Center.

Art Events

Ema Ri: This Too Shall Pass

Locust Projects presents This Too Shall Pass, the first major large-scale solo show by Miami-based artist Ema Ri. The show marks a new stage in Ri’s work, incorporating large-scale video art alongside abstract wall drawings and sound art inspired by the natural world.

Saturday, January 31st, Opening Reception 7-9pm, Locust Projects, Free

Neighborhood: Little Haiti / Little River

Nearby Eats: La Natural, Bar Bucce, Blue Collar | Drinks: ZeyZey, Mi Chini at Phuc Yea

Kate Bickmore: Holding Time (Part I)

Andrew Reed Gallery presents the first installment of Holding Time, a two-part solo exhibition featuring large-scale oil paintings, watercolors, and an immersive floral installation by Maine-based artist Kate Bickmore. Exploring plants as agents of growth and healing, Bickmore’s “florascapes” reveal how plants and people alike experience injury, resilience, and repair.

Saturday, January 31st, 6-8pm, Andrew Reed Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Allapattah

More Art Events:

  • Thursday, January 29th: Fountainhead, Miami’s oldest artist residency, hosts a public open house to meet the current cohort of artists-in-residence and experience their work, 7-8:30pm.

  • Thursday, February 5th: PAMM welcomes celebrated multidisciplinary artist Zak Ové to discuss J'OUVERT, his monumental sculpture installation currently on view in the Design District thru February 9th. Talk at PAMM at 7pm.

  • Sunday, February 8th: The Betsy Hotel hosts artist Ruth Patir for a conversation about (M)Otherland, her site-specific installation for the Israel Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, which will open at Miami’s Jewish Museum later this year, at 6pm.

Indie Cinema

Key Biscayne Film Festival Opening Night

Our newest film fest, the Key Biscayne Film Festival was launched two years ago to much fanfare, highlighting cinematic work that spotlights island cultures and our fragile marine environment. This year, the KBFF is back with a full weekend of shorts and feature-length screenings, kicking off with an opening night showing of Blue Zeus, a documentary about Claire Staples’ fight to free a wild stallion and his family from the US Government, followed by a reception and Q&A with Claire Staples.

Thursday, January 29th, 6pm, Paradise Park on the Key, $50 (or $125 for a VIP festival pass)

Neighborhood: Key Biscayne

A Poet: Red Carpet Screening with Director Q&A

Coral Gables Art Cinema, in partnership with the Consulate of Columbia, presents a special red carpet opening night screening of A Poet (Un Poeta), with a post-film conversation with director Simón Mesa Soto. The film follows Oscar, a “failed writer who has given up on life” (this seems rather harsh), and his shot at a second chance that arrives in the form of a young devotee.

Friday, February 6th, 8pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $22

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

More Indie Cinema:

Music

Itzhak Perlman with the Cleveland Orchestra

World-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman celebrates his 80th birthday season with Cinema Serenade, an unforgettable concert with the Cleveland Orchestra celebrating iconic film scores. With his legendary technique and rich sound, Perlman brings to life John Williams' stirring theme from Schindler's List and Ennio Morricone’s beloved Cinema Paradiso, among others.

Wednesday, January 28th, 8pm, Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht Center, $69-$291

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Eight Bar, Bunbury, Mignonette | Drinks: Yamashiro, ViceVersa

Bronfman Plays Beethoven

The Cleveland Orchestra joins up with piano superstar Yefim Bronfman, for a performance of Beethoven’s revolutionary “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5, the composer’s last. Also on the program, Mozart’s final, formidable Symphony No. 41, nicknamed the “Jupiter” symphony and considered by many critics to be one of the greatest in classical music.

January 30th-31st, 8pm both evenings, Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht Center, $41-$221

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Maple & Ash, Bunbury, ViceVersa | Drinks: Yamashiro, Klaw rooftop

More Upcoming Music Events:

  •  Monday, January 26th: Multifaceted jazz pianist Emmet Cohen leads a star-studded ensemble for an installment of his acclaimed Live From Emmet’s Place streamed concert series, at UM’s Frost School of Music at 7:30pm.

  • Wednesday, January 28th: the XXIV New Music Miami Festival is back with a contemporary chamber performance by andPlay, a modern violin/viola duo that champions new music, at 7pm at FIU’s Miami Beach Urban Studios.

  • Thursday, January 29th: acclaimed violist and educator Luke Fleming joins the Amernet String Quartet at Sanctuary of the Arts for the season highlight of their Amernet & Friends chamber music series, at 7:30pm.

  • Thursday, January 29th: UM’s Frost Opera Theater gives a free concert on McBride Plaza in downtown Coral Gables, 5:30-7:30pm.

  • Friday, January 30th: Grammy-winning vocalist Patti Austin joins the Henry Mancini Orchestra for a big band tribute to the late musical visionary Patrick Williams, at 7:30 pm at UM’s Frost School of Music.

  • Sunday, February 1st: Maestro Eduardo Marturet and the Miami Symphony Orchestra welcome electric bass virtuoso Rodner Padilla for an evening of Latin American Soundscapes, at the Arsht Center at 6pm.

  • February 7th-8th: Guest conductor Ryan Bancroft leads the New World Symphony in Coleman + Copland, an evening of work by American visionary Aaron Copland and contemporary composer Valerie Coleman, at New World Center.

Dance

Dimensions Dance: Ballet in the Gardens

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami, the young, contemporary ballet company run by former Miami City Ballet principals Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra, presents a night of dance under the stars at the Banyan Bowl amphitheater at Pinecrest Gardens. The program of neoclassical and contemporary works includes In Bloom by resident choreographer Yanis Eric Pikieris, plus selections from The Four Seasons by Pikieris, Vow by Ariel Rose, and Apollo & Daphne by Ben Needham-Wood.

Saturday, January 31st, 8pm, Pinecrest Gardens, $35-$43

Neighborhood: Pinecrest

Peter London Dance + Frost Studio Jazz

Peter London Global Dance Company teams up with composer and trumpeter Etienne Charles and UM’s Frost Studio Jazz Band for an evening celebrating Caribbean culture through music and dance. PLGDG will present world premiere choreography set to three of Charles’ jazz suites - Bacchanal Tuesday, As an Offering, and Green Thumb - with interspersed narration by Charles.

Thursday, February 5th, 7:30pm, Gusman Concert Hall at UM’s Frost School of Music, $50-$75

Neighborhood: UM / Coral Gables

Nearby Eats: Vice City Pizza, Mamey, Daniel’s | Drinks: Fox’s Lounge, Titanic (of course!)

More Dance Events:

  • Sunday, February 1st: The internationally acclaimed Ballets Afrikans, the national dance company of Guinea, will bring their blend of traditional dance and storytelling to the Moss Center, at 3pm.

  • Saturday, February 7th: Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida presents an evening of classical and neoclassical ballet, including an excerpt from Firebird, at Sanctuary of the Arts at 7:30pm.

Opera

Die Fledermaus

Florida Grand Opera presents Johann Strauss II’s glittering comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, bringing 19th century Vienna to life with sumptuous period sets and costumes, and featuring one of opera’s most challenging notes - the high D in Adele’s “laughing song." The plot follows an elaborate prank at a high-society costume ball that goes sideways and lands everyone in jail. (Typical Friday night.)

Tuesday, January 27th, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht Center, $32-$357

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Brasserie Laurel, Casadonna, Klaw | Drinks: Klaw rooftop, ViceVersa

Planning Ahead

Miami's most anticipated events sell out and those new restaurants you want to try book up. Here are a couple of upcoming events to get on your calendar now…

Thursday, February 12th

An Evening with Samara Joy

Gen Z jazz phenom Samara Joy sings like she’s been doing this for decades, with a voice and style that evoke her influences, notably Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. A multiple Grammy Award-winner at the ripe old age of 26, Joy released her most recent album, Portrait, in 2024.

8pm, Knight Concert Hall at the Arsht, $53-$152

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

February 28th-March 1st

Sara Baras: Vuela

Celebrating the 25th year of her namesake dance company, Flamenco superstar Sara Baras returns to the Arsht Center to headline the 17th edition of Flamenco Festival Miami. Leading an ensemble of 13 dancers and musicians, Baras will showcase her lightning-fast footwork, alongside stunning costumes and visuals, in a new dance work in four acts, arranged around the themes of “wood,” “sea,” “death,” and “flight.”

7:30 Saturday, 3pm Sunday, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht, $35-$205

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Mignonette, Eight Bar, Casadonna | Drinks: Klaw, ViceVersa

Thanks for reading! If you know a friend that would like this newsletter, please forward it. Thank you!

If someone forwarded it to you, you can subscribe here.

Any feedback? Or tips on events or restaurants? I'd love to hear from you! Hit reply and it will come directly to me.

Reply

or to participate.