Best of the City: The 14 best things Time Out Miami editors saw, ate and visited in 2024

Willy's is the full-fledged, no-frills LGBTQ+ bar that's long been missing in Wynwood, the bustling mainland neighborhood known for its colorful street art and nightlife. Though Miami has an estimated 190,000 LGBTQ+ residents, the metro area has only a handful of gay clubs and bars, and most of them are across the bridge in Miami Beach. Created by the founders of Wynwood Pride, Willy's Neighborhood Bar reinforces their original mission to carve out more space for those who call Miami home. After a brief hiatus in the middle of the year, Willy's made its heroic return on the eve of Charli XCX's Brat tour stop in Miami with an expanded indoor-outdoor space and back-to-back parties featuring a lineup of amazing queer DJs and a healthy sprinkling of drag performances. Now, Willy's is open five nights a week, from Wednesday to Sunday. Happy hour runs from 5 to 9pm and the party goes until 3am. There's no cover, but RSVP is recommended.

Hoy Como Ayer, the iconic Little Havana Latin music venue where legends like Celia Cruz, Albita and Jon Secada once performed, closed in June 2019 after 20 years when its original owner couldn’t reach a lease agreement with the landlord, leaving a genuine void in the neighborhood’s live music scene, almost like a cultural five-year drought. Thankfully, it reopened in July and today’s Hoy Como Ayer is anything but a relic. With a modernized 4,000-square-foot layout, it now features a 65-seat bar, a 25-seat patio and La Sala—a stylish wine bar that feels like an intimate living room. Weekly live music fills the main room, now equipped with cutting-edge sound and lighting, where you’ll also find the city’s best salsa bands performing plus the kinds of DJs that frequent more underground music venues like ZeyZey and 1-800-Lucky. 

Where are the Miami parties for people who prefer to wind down their night out around midnight—not start it? At least one spot has given us this gift in the form of Jazz at Medium Cool. Five nights a week, from Wednesday to Sunday, this award-winning cocktail lounge tucked beneath the Gale Hotel in South Beach hosts live jazz with no cover charge. The non-vocal sets kick off at 7pm, creating the ideal vibe for sipping on martinis and other expertly crafted tipples while catching up with friends or leaning into your date. At 10pm, the mood shifts when the musicians pack up their instruments and the DJ takes over. As the sexy party people roll in, you'll get the chance to mingle and shimmy on the dancefloor, probably to some funky disco-tinged tunes, before calling your Uber. By then, though, we wouldn't blame you for changing your plans and making it a late night after all. Who knows? Maybe Diplo will pop in, or all the players from Miami Beach Polo Cup.

Immersive theater achieved new artistic heights with The Museum Plays, a series of six 10-minute plays performed inside the Rubell Museum in front of the works that inspired them. Produced by avant-garde company Miami New Drama in collaboration with the esteemed contemporary art collection, The Museum Plays ran for just 10 nights in February, weaving audiences through the galleries with the artworks serving as a backdrop to unfolding, entirely original storylines. Unlike some other immersive theater productions from recent memory, these plays felt more raw, the actors more serious and the themes more prescient. In the quiet of the museum, circled up around each scene, you could hear every sigh or crinkle of a shirt as the players interacted with the works, each other and the viewer, creating a bold and powerful level of intimacy throughout.

In this seductive new production at Faena Theater, free-spirited heroine Carmen finds herself in a labyrinth of two opposing lovers. The provocative, adults-only journey explores themes of devotion, jealousy and betrayal as it blends elements of flamenco, cabaret, fire artistry, cirque nouveau and modern beats, all infused with a Spanish flavor. Master of Ceremonies Mimi Barber lends her soulful vocals to the show, accompanied by an award-winning ensemble and stunning visuals that all come together to breathe new life into this reinterpreted classic.

Each new iteration of Dale Zine is better than the last, a testament to wife-and-husband partners Lillian Banderas and Steve Saiz's commitment to Miami's art community, their DIY ethos and their individual talents as creative professionals. The indie printing press, gallery space and hub for local creatives relocated from its downtown space to an adorable storefront in Little River last year, only to root itself up once again in January. Dale's latest location in the Design District is the biggest and most grown-up version yet, complete with expanded hours and an outdoor courtyard, plus even more art books and objects, events and accessible gallery shows. "It feels like we're hitting our stride," Saiz told us in February. The new shop opened with “Look Out of Any Window,” a show of paintings and drawings by Miami graphic artist Gabriel Alcala and came full circle as Dale presented another series of Alcala's works at NADA Miami this past Art Week.

Leave it to Miami to receive a beautifully meditative, large-scale work of installation art concerning our peaceful coexistence with endangered animals, and then have sex on it. (Yes, a couple actually, allegedly got caught in the act atop the art.) But that did little to deter the crowds of locals and visitors from flocking to Miami Beach near 36th Street to awe at the 100-strong herd of life-sized elephants on the sand. "The Great Elephant Migration" was created by The Real Elephant Collective, a community of 200 indigenous artisans from the Bettakurumba, Paniya, Kattunayakan and Soliga communities of India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu. The collective has recreated every elephant they live alongside using Lantana camara, one of the world’s top invasive weeds, encroaching upon over 40% of India's protected areas. On its third stop across the country, the herd arrived in time for Miami Art Week and was on view to the public from December 3 through 8.

The Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix returned to its hallowed grounds at the Hard Rock Stadium from May 3 to 5, bringing with it a whirlwind of experiences, entertainment and culinary offerings from the beach to the mainland. Whether you're a diehard fan, F1-curious or purely ambivalent about loud cars that go very fast, the Miami Grand Prix had something for everyone, including more than 80 food and beverage vendors, viewing areas spanning every level of luxury and a beach club with performances by the likes of Steve Aoki, Ed Sheeran and John Summit. That's not to mention the races themselves, which zip through a 19-turn, 3.36-mile track surrounding the stadium complex. As an uninitiated attendee, I was floored by the sheer scale of the event. It felt like an entire small city with its own well-oiled economy had popped into existence, with all walks of life coming together to marvel at the power of the cars and the fragile-by-comparison drivers hurtling within them.

Miami got to live out its Emily in Paris fantasies when the internationally touring Balloon Museum featured in the show made a multi-month stop in Miami. Dubbed "Let's Fly," this massive exhibition in Wynwood explored the contrast between lightness and heaviness through the medium of air with pieces from more than 20 acclaimed artists. Yes, there were the requisite made-for-Instagram photo moments, but that didn't take away from the pieces themselves, which read more as actual artworks than some of the hokey "immersive" stuff we've seen at other experiences. Visitors of all ages snaked their way through the dimly lit building to encounter psychedelic tunnels, mirrored rooms and yes, that massive ball pit, which was all enhanced by a soundtrack of ethereal electronic music. "This is the perfect date," wrote our editorial intern, Alexandra De Angulo. "It is super interactive, immersive and romantic. It's also really fun for young kids and would be a great family day."

Say what you will about Dave Portnoy, but the man rescued a very sweet gal in 2024, and her name is Miss Peaches. The adorable pit bull and her lovably naughty antics went viral pretty much as soon as the Barstool Sports founder and media personality began posting about her. We noticed the two of them frolicking in and around Portnoy's Miami residence and had the idea to interview her for a story, so I reached via DM. Little did I expect Portnoy to welcome me in so readily, eager to share their story and raise awareness around his fundraising efforts. Overlooking their sparkly slice of Miami waterfront, I got to sit down with the star herself (and yes, Portnoy) to run through some of their favorite spots around town. The result was "Miss Peaches Perfect Day in Miami," a video with nearly 2M views, by far our most popular Instagram post ever. You can read all about Miss Peaches and Dave Portnoy's Miami adventures in the feature story, too.