Readers of Miami, Unite!

The Culture Edit, November 17th-November 30th

Author

Susan Bannon
November 16, 2025

Miami Book Fair’s annual street fair runs Friday-Sunday, November 21st-23rd.

Since 1984, the annual Miami Book Fair has been making a strong case for the notion that people in this city read. In fact, last year over 200,000 local book lovers attended the fair, making it one of the largest literary festivals in the country and Miami’s biggest cultural event of the year (take that, Ultra!).

And this year’s fair is bigger than ever, hosting over 500 authors from more than 35 countries, including big names like Daniel Silva, Karen Russell, Padma Lakshmi, and Carl Hiaasen. The festivities kick off today at the free opening day block party and culminate this coming weekend in the annual street fair, a literary wonderland of book stalls, author talks, and live performances you just don’t want to miss.

Also coming up this week, the annual confetti drop of charitable giving we call Give Miami Day! The Miami Foundation makes it easy (and fun) to support all of your favorite local nonprofits in one go, including pretty much all of the arts organizations I cover in this newsletter. The big day is Thursday, but early giving is already open. Let’s do this!

Let’s get planning…

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!

Book Talks & Events

Miami Book Fair

Each November, the Miami Book Fair takes over downtown for eight days to host hundreds of acclaimed authors in three languages, talking politics, pop culture, prose, poetry - and of course, selling autographed books. The last weekend of the fair (that’s this coming weekend) is when things get turned up to 11 for the annual street fair, featuring hundreds of book vendors and local artisans, plus the back-to-back author talks, live music all weekend, theatrical performances, and food & drink curated by Smorgasburg Miami.

Street Fair November 21st-23rd, 10am-7pm, Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus and environs, Free on Friday, $12 Saturday & Sunday

Neighborhood: Downtown

Kamala Harris on 107 Days

Books & Books and the Arsht Center present an evening with Kamala Harris, discussing her book 107 Days, recounting the dramatic, chaotic three months between her selection as the Democratic candidate for President and Election Day 2024. Written with remarkable candor and the pace of a thriller, 107 Days is the ultimate insider account of one of the wildest and most consequential elections in American history.

Thursday, November 20th, 8pm, Arsht Center, $73

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

More Literary Events:

Theater

The Mother

To open the Arsht Center’s Theater Up Close series, Zoetic Stage presents The Mother, part of Florian Zeller’s searing, award-winning family trilogy (also including The Father and The Son). The play, starring multi-Carbonell winning actress (and friend of the newsletter) Jeni Hacker, chronicles a fateful night in the life of the titular mother, as she wrestles with her place in the world once her duties as a mother are no longer needed and her husband is largely absent. If that sounds rather tame, reviews of this play during it’s acclaimed Off Broadway run indicate her growing rage and unraveling mind all but set the stage on fire.

Through November 23rd, 7:30 evenings, 2:30 matinees, Carnival Studio Theater at the Arsht, $56-$61

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Here There Are Blueberries

Miami New Drama opens its season with Here There Are Blueberries, a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist written by Miami New Drama co-founder Moisés Kaufman with playwright Amanda Gronich. Named one of the “10 Best Plays of 2024” by The Wall Street Journal, the play follows the true story of a mysterious album containing Nazi-era photographs that found its way to the U.S. Holocaust Museum archives in 2007. As curators unravel the shocking truth behind the images, the album soon makes headlines and ignites a debate that reverberates far beyond the museum walls.

Through December 7th, Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre, $45-$95

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

More Upcoming Theater:

  • Opening Wednesday, November 19th: Man of La Mancha, the beloved Tony-award winning musical inspired by Cervantes’ Don Quixote, at Actors’ Playhouse through December 21st.

  • Opening Friday, November 21st: Left on Tenth, a story of second chances in life and love, based on Delia Ephron’s best-selling memoir, at Gablestage through December 21st.

Music

Celia Sinfónica at Arsht

The Celia Cruz Foundation, in collaboration with Loud & Live and the Arsht Center, presents Celia Sinfónica, an immersive musical and visual journey, in celebration of the Queen of Salsa’s 100th birthday. For this groundbreaking tribute concert, her most iconic songs will be transformed with sweeping symphonic arrangements, performed live by the FIU Symphony Orchestra, alongside renowned vocalists and instrumentalists, including Grammy-winning bandleader Willy Chirino and Grammy-winning singer Albita Rodríguez.

Saturday, November 22nd, 8pm, Arsht Center, $65-$240

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Mignonette, Maple & Ash, Eight Bar (new!) | Drinks: El Vecino Cigar Bar, Yamashiro (new!)

Nash Bash: Maggie Rose

To kick off its Art Week programming, the Miami Beach Bandshell presents Nash Bash, a showcase of Nashville sound, headlined by Grammy-nominated singer Maggie Rose. Known for her powerhouse vocals and unique blend of rock, Americana, and R&B, Rose leads a lineup that also features indie-rockers Moon Taxi and country-soul outfit Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves.

Sunday, November 30th, 3:30pm, Miami Beach Bandshell, $48

Neighborhood: North Beach

More Upcoming Music Events:

Art Openings & Events

Spinello Projects’ 20th Anniversary Show

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Spinello Projects is putting on a blockbuster show of fifteen well-known artists that have been a part of the gallery’s history and Miami’s evolving cultural landscape. Changes: Reflections on Time & Space will show seminal works from founder Anthony Spinello’s personal art collection, along with new or recent works by the same artists, many of whom share deep ties to Miami. Featured artists include Esaí Alfredo, Marlon Portales, and Kris Knight. This exhibit technically opens December 1st for Art Week, but you can get a first look at the “Locals Only” preview November 20th.

Preview Thursday, November 20th, 6-9pm, Spinello Projects, Free

Neighborhood: Allapattah

Progressive Art Brunch: Art Week Edition

As longtime readers of this newsletter know, I adore the Progressive Art Brunch whenever it comes around. It’s a fun, prosecco-fueled sprint through many of Miami’s best galleries, so what’s not to love? But the Art Week edition is a special one, with every single participating gallery opening a new show - and very possibly their best of the year - that day for Art Week. If you can only attend one PAB all year, this is the one!

Sunday, November 30th, 11am-4pm, Various Galleries, Free

Neighborhoods: Allapattah, Little River, Little Haiti

Nearby Eats: Hometown BBQ (Allapattah), the Citadel (Little River), Bar Bucce (Little River) | Drinks: Imperial Moto (Coffee), Off Site Nano Brewery 

More Art Events:

  • November 13th-December 20th: No Vacancy, a juried competition that puts immersive art installations in landmark hotels across Miami Beach, returns for its 6th edition, featuring work by Edison Peñafiel, Pepe Mar, and Nathalie Alfonso, among others. **There will be receptions at all the participating hotels and a trolley tour on Thursday, November 20th. Trolley leaves from Miami Beach City Hall at 5:30pm!

  • Thursday, November 20th: an open mic night (and free admission) at the Bass Museum, inviting locals to tell their Miami stories and enjoy their current Jack Pierson, The Miami Years exhibit, at 7pm.

  • Sunday, November 30th: Flex & Flux, a group show of thirteen women’s work, opens at Collective 62, with a reception from 2-5pm. (You can hit this at the end of your PAB crawl.)

Indie Cinema

The Librarians: Screening and Director Q&A

Coral Gables Art Cinema welcomes director Kim Snyder for a screening and post-show Q&A on her new film, The Librarians. Called “a different kind of superhero movie” by the Hollywood Reporter, the film follows a group of librarians as they fight the rising censorship movement sweeping the U.S. despite harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work.

Saturday, November 22nd, 12pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $16

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Amigos: Screening and Director Q&A

Back in 1983, Cuban-born playwright and filmmaker Iván Acosta (El Super) was disturbed by the negative portrayal of “Marielitos” in Brian de Palma’s Scarface, so he raised the funds to make Amigos, the first feature-length film made in the U.S. entirely by Cuban filmmakers, artists, technicians, and actors. Filmed on location in Miami, the film presents “the other face of Scarface,” a bittersweet story of everyday struggles as experienced by Ramon, a Marielito who arrives in Miami ready to make a new life after being in prison for years. Acosta will be on hand, along with actor Ruben Rabasa, for a post-screening Q&A.

Monday, November 24th, 7:30pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $12

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Opera

Silent Night

The Minnesota Opera performing “Silent Night,” 2018. Photo: Don Norman

Florida Grand Opera opens its season with Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night, a moving and tragic retelling of the spontaneous Christmas Eve ceasefire between Scottish, French, and German troops during World War I. Composer Kevin Puts’s sweeping score blends everything from simple folk tunes to grand, cinematic orchestration, capturing the raw emotion of both battle and brotherhood.

Tuesday, November 18th, 8pm, Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht, $30-$250

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Nearby Eats: Brasserie Laurel, Casadonna, Klaw | Drinks: Klaw rooftop, Vice Versa

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…

Wednesday, December 3rd

Sukeban World Championship Fight

Sukeban’s World Championship Fight, the undisputed winner of Art Week 2023, is back and bigger than ever! The brainchild of fashion designer Olympia Le-Tan, Sukeban features “the best fighters straight from the streets of Tokyo” in a riot grrrl-esque mash-up of wrestling, fashion, and anime. There are five fights on the card, the last being the title fight featuring Atomic Banshee defending her belt. It’s going to be epic!

8pm, Miami Beach Bandshell, $76

Neighborhood: North Beach

Saturday, December 6th

Locust Projects Art Week Closing Party

A rendering of Tara Long’s “Cake Grand Hall,” taking over the main gallery at Locust Projects.

Locust Projects has pulled out all the stops this year for Art Week, handing over the entire campus to Miami artist and musician Tara Long for her immersive LA ESQUINITA exhibit. The exhibit will include not just the giant cake pictured above (which comes with its own soundtrack), but also an immersive “Sweet Shop” with over 500 mini-sculptures, and a final destination humid swampscape that transitions to a pop-up speakeasy with performances til midnight.

7pm-12am, Locust Projects, Free (that’s right, it’s free)

Neighborhood: Little Haiti / Little River

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

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.