Sleepless Night

The event we’ve all been waiting for! Planned for the eve of Daylight Savings Time so we have 13 hours of culture and fun. Amazing works of art, dance, culture, music all happening simultaneously around us. Some outstanding works were the Carpetbag Brigade, and the Bandaloop dancing off of the New World Symphony glass walls! IN THE RAIN!
I can’t wait for the next one.

All the Crazy Ish I did last night, that’ll be the best memories!
I went to the first sleepless night in ’07 with a date, solo in ’09, and with a great crowd of friends last night, who carried me thru my «performance» :) while enjoying the professional exhibits. We focused mostly on the ExoStage Soundscape (the new performing arts theater) where we were treated to the amazing acrobatics of Bandaloop dancing on the freaking walls! My group also managed to taste some chicken shiskabob at Catalina, and do some dancing at the (in)famous Buck 15.
With all of the exhibits on the beach, especially south of 20^th, this should be Sleepless NIGHTS! The best bet would be to come early on if the afternoon to get good parking, and even then it would be hard to see all of the events on the 29 page event guide. Kudos to the City of Miami Beach and the various sponsors for giving us this free evening of culture and entertainment.
The one thing that could be improved would be the shuttle buses. Yes, it’s good that there are buses between the events. However, since I stayed along 40^th Street by hotel row I had to walk quite a distance since none of the stops were by that area. Maybe next time there can be a shuttle bus stop at least by 41^st & Indian Creek. That’s close to the Fountatinbleau and other hotels, as well as connection with the city bus that comes down 36^th Street.
I’m looking forward to the next Sleepless Night!

I don’t remember the exhibits I saw in 2009, except for the «John Lennon bus» (that had nothing to do with John Lennon lol) & the «Tranny Circus» (my own name, forget what it was called) was pretty awesome. I had a great time, was in a group of around 6 people and had a blast. Had no trouble getting around, the free buses were great. Can’t wait until this year. Then again I live in North Broward county so just going to Miami is a treat and makes me feel like I live in a «real city». Either way looking forward.

Ill-​prepared is a good word to describe Sleepless Night.
I really didn’t do much planning and, in hindsight, I wish I would’ve. I also wish I would’ve started earlier. Both things that were my fault for lack of planning and will DEF do next time.
Zac and joined our fellow Unilocalers to try and navigate through what seemed to be endless activities. Like George M., we found that most of the interesting activities started and ended early, earlier than we expected.
Esther was our leader for the night and led us through to some places on Lincoln before heading to Collins for the flash mob that was supposed to go on. Because of the weather, the flash mob never started.
We headed over to the Days Inn bar nearby and had a few beers. Then made our way to the Bass Museum, which was packed so full of people it resembled a can of sardines. This was the highlight of the night since we left after making our way to the Catalina.
I think next time I shall be more prepared and have a nice LONG nap beforehand.

The most important thing to remember about events such as these — don’t over plan. This is especially true for those traveling in a large pack. We all know how hard it is to move a large crowd…
When I first visited the sleepless nigts site, I wanted to do so many things and hit so many spots. I also wanted to meet up with a gagillion people and party like no other. Well, party like no other I did and nothing else.
I ended up going in a small group of friends (approx. 4 of us altogether), which turned out to be absolutely perfect. And instead of skipping all over the beach, we planned to hit up only one place — The Gansevoort Rooftop art show.
Enticed by the art and the promise of «Free Patron shots», I was sold. Even though we might have missed all the shenanigans happening below us, it was nothing short of amazing.
This art show even called for viewer interaction! They had easels, paints and blank canvases ready for the untalented, inebriated crowd to splitter-​spatter paint on them. And paint we did.
Other friends that I spoke to didn’t enjoy sleepless nights because they traveled in a large crowd and all had different agenda’s of what they wanted to do that night.
Heed my advice: small group + one or two places, tops.

I had a great time at Sleepless Night. This is the first year I had heard of it and I was so glad that I did. Before I went I printed out the schedule they had online and marked what I was interested in. If you go do that! It can be really overwhelming if you’re not sure what you want to see.
The museums were free, I myself went to the Wolfsonian. The best part was a band call Mass Ensemble, they made a harp out of a 4 story building! So cool! Live graffiti, performance art in the convention center, acrobats on the beach, music everywhere.
The buses the city offered were easy to use and quick. This was a great way to stimulate the South Beach economy and get the ball rolling for Art Basel Miami! And the entire thing was free!

Sleepless Fail.
Hailing from Downtown Miami, my friends and I tried to find a way to get to the beach without having to drive. One visit to
for transportation information led us to believe there was a Park N Ride on Biscayne and 15^th street. After waiting for a while, we were fairly certain there must have been a mistake. Cue $ 15 cab to the beach.
Overall, it was terribly difficult to get around from one spot to the other. The free shuttles would continually pass us without stopping (seems like they were packed) and personally, my feet were killing me. Everything was way too spaced out on the beach to properly get around without experiencing some sort of frustration.
Besides all that, it was awesome to see so many people walking around SoBe at all hours of the night. It was a good effort, but I need to agree with Cindy W’s review — Sleepless night may be better situated in the Design District, or at the very least have the kinks worked out.
The event was definitely less than perfect. If there’s another one next year, I’ll definitely attend but try to take care of transportation myself.
**Update: A friend reminded me that 2007’s Sleepless Night was held the night of the time change, which makes the event a bit more interesting. Understandably, that fell on Halloween night this year. I hope they can do this next time.

The best part was seeing so many people out and about. I ran into a ton of friends and the energy of the crowds on the streets (even in my neighborhood — Yay, Museum District!) was exhilarating. It was a different crowd than you usually see prowling south beach and very refreshing.
I hope Sleepless Nights will be an annual event that keeps getting better. I applaud Miami Beach for the ambitious nature of the project but perhaps less is more. We really had to hustle — seriously hustle — to get to see anything, and our itinerary was already very low-​key.
That said, I had a blast running around South Beach with some awesome friends. Also? Incredible people watching provided endless amusement.

I didn’t really check out Cindy’s review before posting mine, as hers is dated ⁵⁄₂₀₀₈ and was written about the last sleepless night which took place two years ago. However, I think Janay’s review about this year’s event is pretty much spot on.
Overall, last night was a good night out. We had a group that added and lost peeps at various times throughout the night, but overall there were 10 of us that met up and hung out at different times throughout the evening (thanks again to Esther for planning and bringing us together!!).
We started out meeting at 9 at Sand-​O-​Lab to grab some vittles, then moved on from there. We walked up Espanola Way, over to Lincoln Road, up Lincoln and after a few stops there, headed to the Collins Park area to see DJ Le Spam at the Rhythm Foundation stage at midnight. After that we grabbed a few beers, headed to the Bass Museum to check that out, then regrouped at the Catalina and had a few beers there before taking the bus to Lincoln road and stopping at the Polar Bar where we had another bevvy before disbanding.
There weren’t as many displays and activities in random lots as I remember from the first Sleepless Night a few years ago (then again, it seems that a few spaces that were open fields and available for exhibits to be shown back then are now parking lots or have buildings on them). Also, I was a bit disappointed in how early everything was over. It was supposed to be a «sleepless night» so we started out later on purpose, but it seemed that many of the activities either began or happened earlier in the evening, and after 1 or 2 a.m. there weren’t many displays and events to try and see. That was a bit disappointing, because even on a normal weekend many parts of SOBE don’t really start hopping until that time. We moved from the Catalina back to Lincoln Road at about 3, and though there were still tons of people out and about, I was surprised at the amount of bars and restaurants that had closed their doors and were dark already — Including Zeke’s and the Hofbrau House.
I also remember that during the last time they held Sleepless Night, there were people standing on street corners handing out free cans of Red Bull, iced cappuccino, bottled water, etc. to keep people going. I didn’t really see any of that this time. While there were TONS of people at the DJ Le Spam performance at midnight, surprisingly there wasn’t a refreshment stand or even a beer truck in sight where people could grab a beverage. We ended up walking to the nearby Days Inn, but the lines were so long that I ended up grabbing 2 beers for each person, as it took 15 minutes or more just to get the first round.
I thought the shuttle buses and transportation were fine. We caught the bus from the Catalina to Lincoln Road and there were plenty of seats. Earlier when I first arrived I also saw the bus pull up at Espanola Way and Collins, and that bus also had seating available.
While things were spread out a bit, I really didn’t mind the walk. We began down at Espanola Way and moved north from there with stops every few blocks to break up the walk a bit. With the incredible weather we had last night (perfect temperature with a steady breeze all night) it was actually perfect for walking around the city.
Kudos to the people who worked to pull this event together, and to the museums, galleries, bands, orchestras, exhibitors, groups, sponsors, etc. who agreed to open late, provide free admission, perform or who helped in some way to make this event possible. In the end, it was a great opportunity for people to check out some museums, galleries and cultural bits that they might not take the time or have reason to check out otherwise, and to see them free of charge.
Overall, this was a very good event, especially considering it’s only the second time they’ve done this and there was a 2 year gap since the last one. That being said, with a bit more planning and forethought, this could be a GREAT event without much more effort.
I think if they hold sleepless night again next year and the schedule basically remains the same, I’ll plan to start much earlier, try and take in more of the activities and performances that were planned for earlier in the evening and not plan to have a «sleepless night» as the offerings late in the evening dwindled off much earlier than expected.

Here was my schedule for the night :
8:30 Musical Miracles «In the Heights»
9:00 Ground Up & Rising «The Pillowman»
Stopped over at the Café Bustelo for some Horrible Coffee Ice Cream
12:00am DJ Le Spam + Spam All Stars (What Happened to my Flash-​Mob People ???)
1:00am Ray Lee’s «Siren» performance/​installation
I’m Hungry These Red bulls aren’t doing the trick ! Off to Vyn Dyke’s for some grub (Review to follow.)
2:00am ROCK THE WORLD featuring DJ Maximus 3000 Music on the sand! Boy was it windy on the beach
Sadly around 2 am The Dream Engine «Heliosphere’ was canceled due to the beach weather. That was my selling point for the entire night * insert sad face here*
3:45 Hey I’m still wired is that another can of Red bull? Lets run up and down the beach and pretend to own audi’s
4am Fatburger anyone ?
4:30 Hops back on bus at washington and 10^th, enjoys 20 minute ride back to 72^nd
5:00am Hello Bed.
As Cindy w mentioned the buses were a great convenience. I never waited more then 15 minutes and when one did arrive I almost always was able to find a seat.
The lack of food and beverage vendors annoyed me just a little. Its like hey we know you’ve been walking all night if you still want food walk over to Washington/​Lincoln road area or don’t eat.
I applaud the City of Miami beach Cultural arts council for a great effort This year. Hopefully they can clear out a few cobwebs and get this cultural experience where it needs to be.
P.s The bf just informed me he dreamt of Red bulls last night.

Meh I haven’t experienced better ’cause this was my first time but I came away pretty disappointed
I was in no rush to get to the beach since i figured there would be things going on until the shadows got long but it seemed everything Sleepless Night related was over at 2am
Some positives
–Was able to park for free near the Bass (They had the upstairs exhibits closed and the musical performances got filled up quickly) and take buses and walk around a lot so that was good
–The company, I got to hang out with a bunch of cool people and JL
— some really good hip-​hop at the Catalina
— DJ Le Spam and The Allstars — always a good show
I’m not going to list the negatives ’cause I don’t want to pile on the good folks that put this together but I hope they listen to some of the constructive criticism and that this event gets better… it has so much potential
live up to the name

I went into this with not a clue of what to expect but knowing that I just HAD to be a part of it.
We arrived at about 6:30 in Normandy Isle and thinking that I was about to be fleeced at least for parking was happily surprised to find that the city parking lot at Collins and 72^nd Street was free. The first thing we did was to pick up the evening program, even though we had a printed out schedule with us. The program was broken down into easy to read maps showing where the bus stops were throughout the city and the locations of the various events — a lot of which I wasn’t interested in as I was traveling with two people who at this stage of their lives have the attention span of a gnat.
We had arrived in time to see Pablo Cano’s Musical Marionettes which were super cute but as we had arrived pretty late, we were sitting down the back and a certain little person in the group had a huffy fit because he couldn’t see so good, so rather than suffer a meltdown we left early and went outside to the Huge titanic slide, where he then proceeded to have a panic attack and had to be rescued from the top of the Titanic.
OK, all the huffy fits and panics over and a stroll around the three unimpressive Artformz Giant’s in the City we went back to have a sit down outside the North Shore Park Youth Center to have a look at the program when all of a sudden we hear the strains of orchestra and opera on the wind.
Walk over to the Band Shell on 73^rd and Collins to find La Traviata in full swing to a packed auditorium. Not a seat to be found, hardly a noise in the place so we snuck along the back and sat ourselves down on the ground where we could see right up the centre aisle. I was surprised. The kids actually liked it. We took in the end of the first act and about half of the second act before they had had enough and wanted to get on the bus. Definitely this was the highlight of the evening. I was so jealous of the couple with the kid behind me who had a cooler on wheels out of which they pulled a bottle of wine and some nice snacks and some blankets for the kid to lay on the bench and snooze when it got too boring. There’s foresight!!! A totally great evening at the opera with dinner, for free and outdoors in the fresh air. COME ON PEOPLE! Where in the world can you get that!!!
Right outside the band-​shell there was a bus waiting, no line, and so we hopped on and started off for South Beach and here is where I made my first mistake. I should never have gone so far south. My initial plan was to hit the Bass Museum and take in one of the piano recitals and have a look at the displays.
So we ended up on Ocean Drive at Dreamicus which was absolutely jam packed and hard to see. It was awfully windy and the sand was blowing everywhere but everyone was having fun and after a while the kids discovered the playground so of course a visit had to be made there.
Onto the Wolfsonian and the Art of Automobile Design. The kids tried their hand at drawing some auto designs which they hung on the wall. Lots of adults doing the same thing and me giggling at them being so serious about it. Downstairs and was whisked through the selections they had on display «JEEZ MOM /​/​eye roll/​/​ITS A TOASTER… LETS GO».Then into the auditorium where the FLEA Ensemble were messing about with sound on their Mac’s. Would have loved to have stayed a little longer but again… with kids, you have to take your moments where you can.
Across the street and walk back up toward Lincoln Road… and its «Mom, I’m tired». OK we’ll get a bus. Hop on a Red Bull bus at Espanola Way going south deciding we will just go down there for the ride and head back up North toward the Bass because what is more cultural for kids than seeing what goes on in South Beach on a Sat. Nite at about 11 p.m.
At 5^th Street — Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
OK…I hear you say… But you didn’t see anything! OH YEAH… we did. Being able to expose my kids to live opera, for free, albeit for a scant 30 – 45 mins and to actually see them ENJOY it. It was worth it for me.
To see so many families and groups of people out together clutching their programs and EXCITED about something… was priceless.
Definitely the journey from 72^nd Street to 10^th Street took WAY longer than I expected, and the return journey was horribly long (not the fault of the organizers of course… typical Sat. Nite South Beach). But the bus saved my sanity and I actually enjoyed the bus more than anything… the people watching was fun.
If they do it again, I would really like to see the activities a little more grouped together — the busrides took a long time with traffic and I could hear people adjusting their schedule «oh its too late for this, now we should go to that». I would really have loved to see the Playground Theatre but they were on Lincoln Road while I was on 72^nd Street.
Great Job Sleepless Night. Please do it again!!!

Miami’s cultural stab to recreate Paris’s all-​night cultural fest, Nuit Blanche (
), was a mixed bag of good and bad, kinda like a poor kid’s trick-​or-​treat bag — for every Snickers bar, you’re gonna get that cheapass Tootsie roll. I know a few Unilocalers who attended, some who had a good time even.
My post is to add to Roxy’s post (meta-​tagged properly here – her review linked here:
) but I didn’t have as negative an experience — course, my night started at 1130pm when I got out of work! Did I mention this event was FREE? Can’t beat that which is probably why the event planners were overwhelmed by the turnout. Did it meet the cultural promise as Art Basel? No, but it’s a start. In Miami, that’s a step in the right direction.
Pros — Free events if you could get to them. Art galleries, museums open LATE. Hello Erotic Sex Museum and Bass Museum on Washington Ave!
The South Beach Comedy Festival stand-​up comedians entertaining/​heckling the Lincoln Road crowd. Happy drunk comedians are the best.
Shuttle buses from the Children’s Museum so people could avoid parking hassles.
I’m not kidding — Bustelo Coffee was an official sponsor. Whooooo, Cuban Coffee!
Con’s — Most of the performance events were maxed out.
Venues were too spaced apart for easy walking. My feet hurt in my flats, I hate to think of the girls in their club heels. This is Miami, venues should stay open later, museums/​etc until at least 2am.
Honestly, I think Sleepless Nights Miami would be better positioned in the Design Destrict: more space, more parking, more empty lots/​galleries to stage stuff. It’s been done before (Omni Miami, anyone?).
I’d go back to Sleepless Nights — just with a better strategy to make sure I can get into my favorite events/​venues.