Sleepless Night rousing success in its second year

You would think that promoting an all-night event in a city that never sleeps would be a futile as promoting gambling in Las Vegas.

But if that city is also renowned for its price gouging, then all you have to do is make that event free and people will start paying attention.

Now just to be clear, it is not exactly the City of Miami Beach that is notorious for price gouging, although some might argue that.

It is the clubs, bars and restaurants that cater to tourists on Miami Beach. It’s gotten to the point where many locals avoid partying in South Beach’s hot spots.

That is why last weekend’s Sleepless Night event, which was hosted by the City of Miami Beach, was such a success.

Described as the “largest multi-genre arts and cultural event of the year this country has ever experienced,” Sleepless Night provided more than 150 acts, including musicians, artists, actors, dancers and poets during a 13-hour event that took place on all corners of Miami Beach.

Starting at 6 p.m. and ending at 7 a.m., Sleepless Night gave some residents the opportunity to party until sunset, who normally avoid the all-night clubs on South Beach.

While we do have an active club scene on South Beach, and we’re very fortunate to have jazz at the Van Dyke, and a few other spots, we really don’t have that many free activities for locals,”

said Charlotte Libov, an author and photographer who lives on South Beach.

I loved the sheer imagination of all the marvelous events. We had wonderful classic ballet, concerts, kids activities, avant garde and cutting edge events—you name it. I loved running into friends and swapping tips about where we were heading, and what we’d enjoyed.”

Sleepless Night consisted of various events in four zones throughout the city, stretching from North Beach near Collins Avenue and 72nd Street down to South Beach at Ocean Drive and 1st Street.

The city provided free shuttle service to and from the events until 7 a.m.

Sleepless Night is modeled after White Nights (Nuit Blanche), the all-night arts festival that is held in various European cities, including Paris, Berlin and St. Petersburg.

It launched in 2007, then went dormant in 2008 because of the sour economy. This year, it attracted more than 130,000 people, where in 2007 in attracted 100,000 people.

According to Miami Beach spokewoman Nannette Rodriguez, the final budget for Sleepless Night was $650,000 with 80 percent of that coming from private sources.

It seemed to really pick up business along Lincoln Road, the site of one of the four zones, where restaurant workers were reporting a much higher turnout than the average weekend.

The difference is that people came out early tonight so we’ve been slammed since 7 p.m.,”

said a server at Finnegan’s Too.

Normally, most of the people don’t come out until after 9 p.m.”

Related Links: • What’s There To Do? (Sleepless Night Edition) • Sleepless Night Miami Style (Photos) • Miami’s First All-Night Party Related Categories: Miami: Nightlife, Carlos Miller is a featured writer at Miami Beach 411. He also operates Photography is Not a Crime, a blog about photographer rights, New Media and First Amendment issues. See more articles by Carlos Miller. See more articles by Carlos Miller Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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