Celebrating Cuban Heritage Month in Miami 2026

September honors the history, traditions, music, art, and enduring contributions of the Cuban and Cuban-American community to Miami-Dade County.

September has acquired a new cultural significance in Miami. Since 2023, Miami-Dade County has officially recognized September as Cuban Heritage Month, creating an annual opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary influence Cubans and Cuban-Americans have had on the identity of South Florida.

The observance encompasses much more than entertainment. Cuban Heritage Month provides an opportunity to remember history, preserve traditions, introduce younger generations to their cultural inheritance, and recognize the musicians, artists, writers, educators, entrepreneurs, community leaders and families who helped transform Miami into one of the world's most recognizable centers of Cuban culture.

A New Miami Tradition with Deep Historical Roots

The present observance traces its immediate origins to Florida House Resolution 8063, sponsored by State Representative Danny Alvarez and adopted by the Florida House on April 26, 2023. That resolution designated September 2023 as Cuban Heritage Month in Florida in recognition of Cuban cultural and economic contributions to the state. (Florida Senate)

Miami-Dade County subsequently went further. On July 6, 2023, the County Commission adopted Resolution R-663-23, sponsored by Anthony Rodriguez, recognizing September 2023 and September of every year thereafter as Cuban Heritage Month in Miami-Dade County. Thus, September 2026 represents the fourth annual observance under the permanent Miami-Dade designation. (Miami-Dade County)

It is important to distinguish Cuban Heritage Month from National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs nationally from September 15 through October 15. Cuban Heritage Month is a Miami-Dade County observance covering September, although many of the cultural activities naturally overlap with the broader Hispanic celebration. (Miami-Dade County)

What Are We Celebrating?

To understand Cuban Heritage Month in Miami, one only has to look around the community. Cuban influence can be heard in music, seen in architecture and visual art, tasted in food, spoken through language and literature, and experienced in neighborhoods such as Little Havana, Hialeah, Westchester and other communities transformed by generations of Cuban families.

Music occupies an especially important place in that inheritance. Contradanza, habanera, danzón, son, rumba, bolero, mambo, cha-cha-chá, Afro-Cuban jazz and other Cuban musical traditions form part of a cultural continuum that traveled beyond the island and became deeply embedded in Miami's artistic identity. Cuban Heritage Month gives musicians, dancers, historians and cultural organizations an additional opportunity to preserve that story and transmit it to new generations.

Cuban Heritage Events to Experience in Miami — September 2026

Some of the following programs are officially promoted as Cuban Heritage Month celebrations, while others are Cuban-centered cultural events taking place during September that offer particularly meaningful ways of observing the month.

• September 11, 6:00–10:30 p.m. — MVM Presents “Our History, Our Tradition” — Celebrating Cuban Heritage Month. Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus Auditorium will host a free community celebration dedicated to Cuban history, family, culture and tradition. The centerpiece of the evening will be the premiere of the documentary Two Families, One Home, which tells the moving story of three Pedro Pan brothers from the Cepero family and their journey from Cuba to the United States — an experience shaped by separation, perseverance, hope, family and love.

  The program goes beyond the documentary premiere and becomes a broader celebration of Cuban heritage. Guests will enjoy a live Salsa Show, live music, complimentary food and beverages, and activities designed to bring together different generations of Miami’s Cuban-American community. The event reflects one of the most important purposes of Cuban Heritage Month: preserving personal and family histories alongside the music, traditions and cultural expressions that continue to connect generations.

  Event Details: Friday, September 11, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus Auditorium, 300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33132. Admission and parking are free, and the celebration is open to the entire community. For additional information, contact MVM at info@miamivirtualmuseum.com or 786-691-0491.

  Featured activities include: the premiere of Two Families, One Home; the story of three Pedro Pan brothers and the Cuban-American experience; a live Salsa Show; live music; complimentary food and drinks; and a multigenerational community celebration of Cuban culture and heritage.

• Through September 13 — Caridad del Cobre Exhibit. At Futurama 1637 Art Building in Little Havana, Miami artists present the 11th edition of an exhibition inspired by Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, Cuba's patroness and an enduring symbol within Cuban culture. Admission is listed as free. (Greater Miami & Miami Beach) Event information

• September 10, 5:30–8:30 p.m. — Cuban Heritage Month Movie Night. Westchester Regional Library hosts a free, all-ages Cuban Heritage Month Celebration featuring Cuban food, performances, children's crafts and a screening of the animated film Vivo. The event is hosted by Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, whose 2023 legislation established the annual county observance. (MDPLS) Official event details

• September 12–13 — Afro-Cuban Master Weekend Miami. At Miami Baila Dance Studio, dancers can participate in a two-day intensive devoted to preserving and teaching Afro-Cuban dance traditions, accompanied by live percussion and cultural instruction. The organizers describe preservation and authentic education as central to the program's mission. (Eventbrite) Program information

• September 15, 11 a.m. — Miami-Dade Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff and Celia Cruz Tribute. The free County celebration at Stephen P. Clark Government Center will include numerous cultural performances. Specifically in recognition of Cuban Heritage Month and Resolution R-663-23, Cuban performer Dayma Diamante will present a musical tribute to Celia Cruz. (Miami-Dade County) Miami-Dade event announcement

• September 25 — Viernes Culturales in Little Havana. Calle Ocho between approximately SW 14th and 17th avenues becomes a celebration of neighborhood history, music, food, art and culture during the monthly Viernes Culturales. Although not exclusively a Cuban Heritage Month program, the event takes place at the heart of Miami's historic Cuban diaspora community and provides an especially appropriate way to experience Cuban Miami during September. (Greater Miami & Miami Beach) Viernes Culturales information

• September 26, 7:30 p.m. — Aymée Nuviola: 90 Millas. Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning Cuban singer Aymée Nuviola performs at Sanctuary of the Arts in a concert exploring the musical, emotional and cultural connections between Cuba and Miami. The title 90 Millas evokes the geographic distance separating Cuba from South Florida while focusing on memory, migration, roots and cultural identity. (Greater Miami & Miami Beach) Concert information

• September 29–October 4 — Buena Vista Social Club and Rhythm & Roots at the Arsht. Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County presents the South Florida premiere of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical Buena Vista Social Club, which the Arsht describes as honoring Miami's enduring relationship with Cuban music, culture and storytelling. Surrounding the production will be Rhythm & Roots at the Arsht, a free weeklong plaza celebration featuring Cuban and Miami artists, DJs, dancing, dominoes and performances by artists including Yissy García, Leslie Cartaya and Cortadito. (Adrienne Arsht Center) Buena Vista Social Club at the Arsht

Keeping Cuban Heritage Alive

Perhaps the most important purpose of Cuban Heritage Month is preservation. Celebrating Cuba should not be limited to familiar symbols, food or nostalgia; it should also invite deeper exploration of the traditions, historical figures and cultural movements that created Cuban identity over generations.

That includes understanding the evolution from contradanza and habanera to danzón, studying composers such as Manuel Saumell, Ignacio Cervantes and Miguel Faílde, preserving Cuban folkloric traditions, celebrating poets and writers, remembering the Cuban-American experience in Miami, and giving younger generations opportunities to encounter this heritage firsthand. A culture remains alive when it is not merely remembered, but taught, performed, danced, discussed and passed forward.

Miami and the Cuban Story

Few places outside Cuba provide a more appropriate setting for such a celebration than Miami. Cuban migration profoundly changed the city's cultural landscape, while Miami in turn became a place where Cuban traditions could be preserved, transformed and handed from one generation to another.

Cuban Heritage Month 2026 is therefore both a celebration and an invitation: listen to the music, learn the history, visit the exhibitions, support cultural organizations, dance the dances, introduce children to the traditions and discover stories that may otherwise disappear. September offers Miami an entire month to recognize that Cuban heritage is not simply part of the city's past — it remains a living part of its present and its future.

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Dancing to the Cuban danzas of Ignacio Cervantes

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