By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-08 18:06:43 | Updated at 2025-01-09 07:55:34
13 hours ago
A New Year's Eve concert in Miami sparked outrage among residents who claimed that the taxpayer-funded festivities were strictly catered to a Spanish-speaking audience.
Bayfront Park, an 32-acre public space in downtown Miami, has hosted the event for more than three decades.
A press release ahead of the event referred to it as 'the largest Hispanic New Year's celebration in the United States.'
'We're all taxpayers and it's not a solely one group New Year's Eve event,' Dr. Jeffrey Dorfman, a Miami resident, told NBC Miami. 'It's not a private event.'
The party included a long list of performances by platinum-selling recording artists and Latin Grammy-winning icons.
Some of the artists that hit the stage included Willy Chirino, Arturo Sandoval, Chino y Nacho, Luis Enrique, Gente de Zona, Maribel Guardia and Aymée Nuviola, CBS News reported.
Mexican artist Fedro, along with his mariachi band, welcomed the new year on stage once the confetti drop and firework display concluded shortly after midnight.
Other celebrated performers, such as Larry Dogg Bang from Overtown, also put on a show for the massive crowd.
Bayfront Park, an 32-acre public space in downtown Miami, has hosted the event for more than three decades
A press release ahead of the event referred to the event as 'the largest Hispanic New Year's celebration in the United States'
Joe Carollo, the Miami Commissioner and chairman of the Bayfront Park Management Trust who was tasked with leading the event planning, said that over the last seven years there had never once been an issue over the artist lineup
'I am excited to be in my city; it's a dream come true y'all,' Dogg said during the event.
'Because you know what? This is Miami, all cultures, all of us are one; no matter what we do, we are one.'
Some residents were left outraged over the lineup for a holiday as widely celebrated as the New Year.
Members of the Biscayne Neighborhoods Association - a social welfare organization dedicated to addressing quality of life issues that impact Miami residents - were some of those critics.
'I think in the City of Miami, inclusion should play a role in anything that we do that involved taxpayer dollars,' Rick Madan, the president of the association, told NBC.
The controversy seeped into social media, where others questioned the city officials over the lineup.
'Is there some reason the entire NYE event at Bayfront Park was Spanish only?' one person asked on X with a mention of the mayor and city's accounts.
'Is that what Miami is now?' the user continued. 'We take a city-wide event and turn it into an exercise in exclusion.'
Another resident agreed, adding: 'More diversity in your next lineup. Please.'
The party included a long list of performances by platinum-selling recording artists and Latin Grammy-winning icons
Some of the artists that hit the stage included Willy Chirino, Arturo Sandoval, Chino y Nacho, Luis Enrique, Gente de Zona, Maribel Guardia and Aymée Nuviola
Some residents were left outraged over the lineup for a holiday as widely celebrated as the New Year
Joe Carollo, the Miami Commissioner and chairman of the Bayfront Park Management Trust who was tasked with leading the event planning, said that over the last seven years there had never once been an issue over the artist lineup.
He also noted that the lineup did not only feature Spanish-speaking artists
'We had Roxy that sung in English, Larry Doug and his band, the two disc jockeys - the bulk of what they had was in English,' Carollo told NBC.
Carollo believed that the criticism surrounding the celebration came from a misguided and and that and critics wanted to 'destroy the Bayfront Park Management Trust'.
'Everything that the city does it wrong,' he added. 'All they do is complain, complain, complain, and everything is bad. You're doing to do a story over this?'
Pat Santangelo, a board member for the Trust, said that he hadn't heard any complaints from Miami residents regarding to the event but acknowledged that it's a city of millions.
'It's very hard to please all of the people all of the time, but in this case, we are considered the capital of South America to some people,' Santangelo told NBC.
Miami is considered a majority-minority city due to its significant Hispanic population.
One resident took to X to ask Bayfront Park: 'More diversity in your next lineup. Please'
The president of the Biscayne Neighborhoods Association said that 'in the City of Miami, inclusion should play a role in anything that we do that involved taxpayer dollars'
According to the Bayfront Park Management Trust, the New Year's Eve celebration is the largest Hispanic Event in the United States and the second most important in the country - only being surpassed by the ball drop in Times Square
As of 2023, Hispanic or Latinos made up the largest percentage of the Miami population at 69.1 percent, according to 2023 US Census figures.
According to the Bayfront Park Management Trust, the New Year's Eve celebration is the largest Hispanic Event in the United States and the second most important in the country - only being surpassed by the ball drop in Times Square.
'This event reflects the artistic quality and level of excellence our city deserves, a city admired worldwide,' Carollo said in a statement ahead of the event.
The Biscayne Neighborhoods association is now urging the Trust to consider using resident input for next year's planning.
