URGE Miami Festival Returns for Thanksgiving Weekend

Miami Beach's Thanksgiving weekend is about to get louder. URGE Miami Festival, one of the city's largest LGBTQ+ gatherings, returns November 27 through 30 with three daytime events and four nighttime parties, capped by a newly redesigned Beach Party on the sands of South Beach.

The festival has become a fixture of the holiday weekend, drawing visitors from across the country and abroad to a stretch of Ocean Drive that organizers say will be packed with hotel guests, DJs, and beachgoers for four straight days. This year's lineup includes DJs Deanne, Eliad Cohen, GSP, Cesar Hernandz, Isis Muretech, Jace M, Jerac, Joey with the Mustache, Junyo, Raul Mata, Robincal, and Sharon O'Love, with two additional internationally known DJs still to be announced.

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"Our DJs are world-class, and they'll give you plenty of reasons to stay on the dance floor," said producer Luis Morera. "But ask anyone who's been to URGE, and they'll tell you the weekend is about so much more than the music. It's the people, the energy, the laughs, the reunions, and the moments you never planned for that make everyone count down the days until they're back again."

The festival opens Friday, November 27, with a party at a five-star Miami Beach hotel, followed by an evening event at M2 Miami featuring GUAPO, a party brand out of São Paulo, Brazil. Saturday brings a pool party at Strawberry Moon before the action shifts back to M2 Miami that night. But the weekend's centerpiece is Sunday's Beach Party, running from 2 to 9 p.m. on the sand between 6th and 7th Streets — a spot organizers have used for years, now getting a significant upgrade. This year's production includes an expanded footprint, a stage rising roughly 25 feet above the beach, and an elevated VIP viewing area with an open bar overlooking the Atlantic. The event is held with support from the City of Miami Beach and the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority.

Sunday night continues with a party from WE Party, a well-known international clubbing brand based in Madrid, Spain, running into the early morning hours at M2 Miami. The weekend closes out Monday with an after-hours event at Paraiso Estereo that runs from 5 a.m. into the early afternoon.

For out-of-town guests, this year's official host hotels are The Clevelander and Essex House, both located on Ocean Drive across from the public beach and within walking distance of the festival's main events. Room rates start at $169 a night and include perks like beach chairs, towels, and continental breakfast — a nod to the wave of visitors the festival typically brings to South Beach's hospitality industry during one of its busiest travel weekends of the year.

Organizers also note a charitable component to this year's festival: a portion of proceeds will benefit Miami Beach Pride, the nonprofit behind the city's annual Pride celebrations and LGBTQ+ programming.

Tickets are on sale now at UrgeMiamiFestival.com, with organizers cautioning that some ticket types are limited and expected to sell out ahead of the holiday weekend.