The best Miami events in April 2026

Model Volleyball is exactly what it sounds like. Now in its 16th year, this beachside tournament pits over 250 models from ten of the top agencies against each other in a daylong competition on the sand at 9th and Ocean Front. This year, Club Space takes over the music, bringing CamelPhat and Prospa to headline across both days. Doors open at noon, with agencies like Wilhelmina, Next, Elite, and Ford battling it out for the championship title. At 6PM the courts come down and Club Space opens the dancefloor, with DJs carrying the night through until 11. VIP tables sit right between the courts and the stage if you want to do it properly. Over the years it has drawn Travis Scott, Vince Vaughn, Joe Jonas, and Jamie Foxx, so you never know who you'll be rubbing shoulders with. Tickets start at $20 at modelvolleyball.com.

Wellness gets a serious upgrade at the Miami Design District's Jungle Plaza on April 18 and 19, when WellNXT Fest brings two days of fitness, mindset, recovery and community to one of the city's most vibrant outdoor settings. The festival serves as the marquee event of Wellist Week — a citywide wellness gathering running April 13 through 19 across Miami Beach, Wynwood and beyond — and spans 50-plus programs, workshops and activations across eight curated time blocks each day, covering everything from outdoor workouts and cold plunge recovery to expert speaker panels, live podcasts and nutrition demos. General admission is free, while VIP passes ($95) unlock exclusive lounges, priority seating and a curated gift bag. 

This bustling vintage market enters its 35th year in 2026 on South Beach's famed Lincoln Road. Approximately every other Sunday (check their calendar for exact dates), 125 vendors convene along the promenade to showcase their wares and barter with discerning shoppers. Find everything from mid-century furniture to Art Deco decor and more. The long-running weekend social presents a solid mix of 19th and 20th-century memorabilia and unique collectibles. While you're there, stock up on locally grown produce, fresh flowers and artisanal goods from the Lincoln Road Farmer's market, which occurs every Sunday from 9am to 6pm.

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.

If you grew up in a Cuban household in Miami, Álvarez Guedes was probably playing in the background. The comedian who became the Godfather of Latin Comedy through 30-plus albums of distinctly Cuban storytelling is getting the immersive treatment this spring. Debuting April 30 inside a custom-built venue at Tropical Park, Muerto de Risa is a three-hour cabaret-style production that moves guests through themed spaces — El Bar, El Cabaret, El Patio — as stand-up, live music and theatrical storytelling unfold around them. Less traditional theater, more like stepping into a night out at a classic Havana club. Learn more here. 

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).

Every Wednesday night, Wynwood's PASTA opens its kitchen for a hands-on pasta-making class led by head chef Luis Jose. The restaurant — brought to life by acclaimed Peruvian chefs Juan Manuel Umbert and Janice Buraschi — blends traditional Italian technique with Peruvian influence, and the class reflects exactly that: you'll mix, knead and shape your own pasta before sitting down to eat what you made. A welcome cocktail, appetizer and dessert round out the evening.

Now in its 43rd edition, Miami Film Festival runs April 9–19 across more than ten venues spanning Little Havana, Wynwood, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach and beyond — spreading 160-plus films from 45 countries across 11 days. The program opens with Tuner, the narrative debut of Oscar-winning documentarian Daniel Roher (Navalny), and closes with Power Ballad, Irish filmmaker John Carney's music-laced comedy starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas. Steven Soderbergh's The Christophers and Maude Apatow's directorial debut Poetic License are the centrepiece selections. The star appearances are worth knowing about: Severance's Adam Scott receives the Vanguard Award and sits for a career conversation at Wolfson's Chapman Center; Bob Odenkirk does a Q&A following a screening of his new film Normal; and John Waters shows up for his own 80th birthday celebration at the Arsht Center. Special screenings include Whiplash in Concert, the film accompanied live by an 18-piece jazz band conducted by composer Justin Hurwitz, and a 25th anniversary screening of The Princess Diaries at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The Made in Miami program is strong this year, too, with local titles spanning a Cuban-American dark comedy, a multilingual art-heist thriller, a documentary on Traz Powell Stadium and films tied directly to South Florida communities. The festival also returns to the historic Tower Theater in Little Havana, which is celebrating its centennial — the first Miami theater to add Spanish subtitles...

Miami's own genre-bending orchestra takes the historic Banyan Bowl Amphitheater at Pinecrest Gardens for an evening of chamber orchestra and jazz under the stars. Founded by conductor Jacomo Bairos and multi-hyphenate musician Sam Hyken, both Juilliard-trained and deeply embedded in Miami's creative scene, Nu Deco has spent a decade redefining what an orchestra can do and who it can do it with. Their collaborator list reads more like a festival lineup: Jon Batiste, Jacob Collier, Wyclef Jean, PJ Morton, Angélique Kidjo. The Banyan Bowl setting, an open-air amphitheater tucked inside Pinecrest Gardens, is one of Miami's most atmospheric live music venues, so if you haven't been, this is the concert to experience it with.

This epic three-day fest across the county line was created over a decade ago to generate awareness and raise funds for ocean conservation while pandering to Floridians’ natural instinct to strip down in front of large crowds. If you love country, rock and pop music and cold beer, the Tortuga Music Festival is for you. It’s Broward County's answer to Ultra Music Festival (minus all the ravers and beat drops), and it happens right on the sands of Fort Lauderdale Beach. This year, Post Malone, Riley Green and Kenny Chesney headline, along with an eclectic mix of icons like Ice Cube, Afroman, The Fray and G. Love & Special Sauce.