Miami is the de facto gateway to Latin America, and Calle Ocho has for decades served as the hub of the city’s Cuban culture and community. When it first began more than forty years ago, the Calle Ocho street festival was almost exclusively Cuban in character. Now the Calle Ocho festival reflects shifting demographics and the greater diversity of Latin American people in South Florida. I selected the Calle Ocho street festival as an example of what the overall area has to offer. The festival typically takes place in March. Even during the rest of the year, though, Calle Ocho retains a unique culture, identity, and aesthetic. Landmark establishments like Ball and Chain have recently experienced a revival as younger generations recognize the historical value and worth inherent in preserving such iconic places. The Calle Ocho area has become world renowned, and one of the top tourist destinations in the greater Miami area. In fact, the Calle Ocho festival regularly draws around a million people to Southwest Eighth Street, making it the “largest Hispanic festival in the entire country,” (Benowitz 1). Calle Ocho is important to share with the world because of the way it showcases Latin American music, food, art, dance, and culture and also because of the way it defines Miami as a unique urban hub.
Traditionally, the Calle Ocho street festival would have featured primarily Cuban sounds and dance. The area the festival comprises is still known as Little Havana, which includes a substantial twenty block stretch of the iconic street replete with ventanitos where locals and tourists alike sip strong, sweet Cuban coffee and where old Cuban men can still sit outside for hours playing dominos and drinking Presidente or rum with their friends. Miami is a rapidly changing metropolis, though, and Little Havana has seen its share of economic ups and downs. Through it all, the Calle Ocho festival has persisted in providing world class entertainment for no cost. Only now, the street is also lined with brand new restaurants and bars and bears the marks of gentrification.

Calle Ocho/Southwest Eighth...…Rey De Las Fritas. The latter serves a sandwich like no other—replete with potato sticks between the bread. Intellectually minded folk can learn more about the history and culture of the area by visiting small museums in and around Calle Ocho including the Bay of Pigs Museum and Library, and can also venture farther afield to the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami. Testimony to the increasing global diversity of the area, one of the best Thai restaurants in the city can be found at Lung Yai (“Little Havana, Miami, neighborhood guide,” 1). Finally, there are numerous shops and bars that have private collections of local and international art. From reflecting on Calle Ocho and the Calle Ocho street festival, I would relay that the most important fact I learned is about the preservation of communities. Communities need to grow and change organically, never to become crystallized versions of themselves that only seem fake. Calle Ocho might have good times and bad, but it represents the natural vicissitudes of social life in a metropolitan area.…