Founder and chief experience officer of the Miami-based event agency Social Xchange, Alexis Brown is a "curator of cool." After realizing there was a lack of entertainment events in Miami that cater to Black and brown millennial professionals, she launched her company with a monthly happy hour series in Wynwood. She soon expanded with a lineup of parties and activations at locations like Red Rooster and the Urban in Overtown. From Instagram-viral fetes at the Easton Rooftop Pool and Lounge in Fort Lauderdale to her music and mixology Art of Cocktail event, she's elevating the going-out experience. Brown also challenged the status quo during Miami Art Week with her Basel Bae experience dedicated to promoting and lifting up Black art and bucking stereotypes about Black cuisine with the Black Pepper Festival. Brown will continue to pave the way for party innovation and inclusivity.

Combining Old Florida hospitality with New Miami swagger, ZeyZey has become a scene unto itself, thanks to its embrace of globally minded live music and DJs playing everything from Afrobeat and son cubano to disco and jazz — especially meaningful in a city whose nightlife stakeholders offer little support to bands of any genre. With local food pop-ups and a beverage program focused on natural wine and craft cocktails, the trendy Little Haiti hotspot has also hosted community events like film screenings, pottery and candle-making workshops, and the Little River Flea vintage market.

A new player has entered Miami's busy festival game in the form of the We Belong Here festival. Although it's been running for three years, this third iteration of the festival showed the city its real potential. It got crowds riled up with headliners like Guatemalan DJ Gordo and British DJ Duke Dumont on their 360-degree mainstage and strong local acts and label takeovers on smaller stages. Smorgasburg was the fest's food vendor, so attendees had no trouble fueling up on local culinary options. With a beachside location on Virginia Key, We Belong Here presented a way more relaxed opportunity to enjoy electronic acts than the city's more intense festivals.

Responding to a hostile climate toward independent club promoters in Miami, the folks behind this raucous series of shindigs made lemons out of lemonade by hosting club-music gigs in a nondescript house in Brownsville. With nearly every DJ in town playing this best of parties, it became a rallying scene for the electronic underground and a rebuke to the city's heavily commercialized club culture. Late last year, the Miami Ass Party folks shuttered their Brownsville doors, continuing to host events around town, but if you weren't there for those original sweaty house parties, you might have missed the moment.

From Medellin, Colombia, to Miami, Perro Negro is the center of reggaeton and perreo culture in South Florida. Writhing bodies are bathed in low red lighting on the dance floor. It's tight, but people come for that intimate atmosphere and to dance to the sounds of DJs like Sebaxxss and Rudeboy. Bad Bunny and Feid even released a song named after the nightlife establishment. When it plays, the lights turn green and everyone sings along. The club has also been used by artists Ryan Castro and Blessd for album release parties since the night launched during Billboard Latin Music Week. Perro Negro brings raw sensuality with a touch of chaos that is the essence of reggaeton.

What's way more fun than rise and shine? Rise and Toast, the Sunday Caribbean brunch party that combines the best of both weekend worlds with brunch from noon to 4 p.m. and a day party from 4 to 9 p.m. Launched in 2020 by Hybrid Events and party promoters Jewels and James, Rise and Toast kicked off in Wynwood before relocating to the Urban (1000 NW Second Ave.) in Overtown. Since then, it has drawn big crowds, including dancehall stars like Mavado and Jada Kingdom, and athletes like Chad Johnson and Usain Bolt. They came and stayed for the savory Jamaican brunch from Dynamic Cuisines food truck and a satiating mix of soca, dancehall, Afrobeats, reggae, and hip-hop from resident DJs Silent Addy, Dr. Esan, Deion, Greg Xcess, and Shadow Fyah.

Though Gramps, the beloved Wynwood watering hole, welcomes everyone to its bars and stages, it's safe to say that it's been recognized by the gay community as an honorary queer bar. That's largely because the Thursday night Double Stubble party is rife with dance, drag, and delight. Hosted by Miami drag legend Karla Croqueta, Double Stubble features a weekly rotation of the Magic City's best up-and-coming and established drag performers. In between the 9, 10, and 11 p.m. performances, resident DJs Hottpants and Zheno keep the patio flooded with sweaty, happy bodies dancing to gay anthems. By design, attitude, and thanks to the staff, Gramps has an inclusive, nonjudgmental, and celebratory atmosphere where Double Stubble has thrived. And don't forget, it also has superb libations, delectable pizza, and, most importantly, flattering lighting.

After announcing her retirement from certain aspects of the Miami drag scene, we can't help but wonder what Yoko Oso has under her wig next. She's charting a new path by abandoning bar gigs to focus on the aspects of drag that give her joy — acting, music, and whatever else she sets her mind to. One of Oso's more unforgettable gigs was at Counter Corner, where she performed Kate Bush live on her electric upright bass before Stranger Things made the British crooner ubiquitous on social media. A fixture at gay gatherings — Revolution Live! as host, Double Stubble, Flaming Classics, and at Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings — Oso is a queen who can do it all. From live music to political commentary and the avant-garde, Oso manages to cultivate an alternative drag that challenges and elevates the status quo.

Tucked away in downtown Miami, Jolene Sound Room is both an intimate retro-themed cocktail bar and underground dance club where bodies can move to great tunes without the unbearably large crowds. The low-lit "basement" is lined with high-quality speakers that fill it with dance music you can feel all over. Visitors can mingle with friends at the bar or head to the dance floor under a shimmering disco ball. Since its debut in May 2023, this diminutive nightclub has been delivering a one-of-kind dance experience that doesn't rely only on big-name DJs, instead offering local talents time on the decks.

You never know what you're going to get from a Pressure Point set — from hard-hitting breakbeat bangers to iconic pop songs — but you're going to break a messy sweat every time. The DJ is otherwise known as Akia Dorsainvil, a transdisciplinary artist whose musical selections have ranged from jungle and East Coast club to Miami bass and pop edits. Dorsainvil not only brings the beats; he's a cofounder of the collective Masisi, a Miami arts and events organization that ensures that Black, queer Miamians have a social space to call their own.