Little Havana
Originally a lower-middle-class Southern, and thriving Jewish neighborhood in the 1930s, "Little Havana" emerged in the 1960s. When Fidel Castro’s reign sparked the Cuban Revolution in January 1959, Cuban immigrants fled to Miami and found refuge in this neighborhood and the concentration of Cubans in the area grew sharply.
Today, the sobriquet “Little Havana” is applied for the Shenandoah and Riverside neighborhoods lying immediately west of Downtown Miami, stretching west from the Miami River for roughly two and a half miles.
Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba, and is famous as the cultural and political capital of Cuban Americans. Little Havana always was the center of the Cuban exile community.
Many festivals are organized in Little Havana, like the Calle Ocho Festival, a one-day street festival that started in 1978. It is every year on SW 8th Street, “Calle Ocho”, between SW 12th Avenue and 27th Avenue and is one of the largest in the world. This event which is Showcasing Latin American and Caribbean culture is attended by over one million visitors.
The Viernes Culturales / Cultural Fridays are held on the last Friday of every month and started in 1984. It is a year-round series of art exhibits, dance, music, poetry, theater and film events, as well as neighborhood historic tours to preserve and highlight the culture of Little Havana and act as a cultural liaison for the artistic community and the general public of Miami, visitors and tourists.
The annual City of Miami “Three Kings Parade” which takes place along Calle Ocho in Little Havana every January is a very popular event. This parade, celebrates tradition and through shared tradition and culture brings community, neighbors and generations together. It features different colorful floats, marching bands, performers and often some star power.
Calle Ocho is also known for its landmarks, its Walk of Fame to honor famous Latin artists and personalities, and the Tower Theater, one of Miami’s oldest cultural landmarks which was the finest state-of-the-art theater in the South when it opened in December 1926.
Today, Tower Theater Miami thrives as a social gathering place for cultural connections in Little Havana, where the community can enjoy alternative and culturally specific exhibitions, performances, independent and international films, specializing in both Spanish-language films and English-language films, subtitled in Spanish.
The heart of Little Havana is the Cuban Memorial Boulevard. Stretching southward from SW 13th street and the main strip, this 4-block parkway, is divided by a pedestrian walkway that takes you through various memorials dedicated to those that fought for the island of Cuba.
The most prominent monument of this strip is the Eternal Torch commemorating the bravery of Brigade 2506, the troop who were seeking to regain control of Cuba from Fidel Castro during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. This CIA first backed operation during John F. Kennedy’s presidency, was one of the most disastrous in US military history. Exiles surrendered within a day, 114 got killed outright, over 1,110 taken prisoner and Brigade 2506 was completely decimated.
Exile Cubans claim the Administration of President Kennedy and that is the reason that still today most Cubans vote Republican.
The Maximo Gomez Park named after a hero of Cuba's War of Independence, Máximo Gómez is also known as "Domino Park," and is a Little Havana landmark, and meeting spot for older Cubans.
It started in 1963 when a small group of older Cubans met on this street corner and played Domino one of the favorite pastime of Cubans. Shortly more people came to play, and it became so popular that in the early 1970s the city opened officially Domino Park.
Today it is also a tourist destination, and everyone is allowed to play as long as you are at least 55 years of age.
The space next to it plays also host to food tours, art festivals and other cultural events in Little Havana.
Many restaurants, cigar factories and stores are on Calle Ocho and invite to sip Cuban Cofee and experience the Cuban flair.
The Bay of Pigs Museum, also known as the Brigade 2506 Museum and Library, is the official museum in memory of the Bay of Pigs Invasion's Brigade 2506.