Rumba in Miami With 40th Annual Calle Ocho Festival

MIAMI, FL — In a city known for its electricity and multicultural events, Miami will be super charged on Sunday with the 40th Annual Calle Ocho Festival or “El Festival de la Calle Ocho.”

The Calle Ocho Festival starts at 12 p.m. and ends at 7 p.m. on Sunday. This year, the festival takes place on SW 8 Street from SW 27th Avenue to SW 12th Avenue.

Billed as the largest Hispanic street festival in the southeastern United States, event organizers promise that "Little Havana will vibrate with the hip-shaking rhythms of Latin music from salsa to hip-hop, including street performers and eight dedicated stages."

The Kiwanis Club of Little Havana puts on the event. This year's event features a Cuban sandwich "smackdown" while festival goers can also join street dancers in a conga line as they enjoy hundreds of international food kiosks simmering with Latin flavors.

Here is a map of the event and entertainment schedule.

Miami police have released the following street closures and transit changes ahead of the event:

• Eastbound traffic on SW 8th Street from SW 27th Avenue to SW 12th Avenue will be closed beginning on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. Traffic traveling eastbound on SW 8th Street will be detoured northbound or southbound at SW 27 Avenue.
• Miami- Dade Transit buses that travel along SW 8th Street will be detoured. Check with the Miami-Dade Transit Agency for more information.
• SW 7th Street will remain open westbound until SW 12 Avenue, then detoured north.
• Residents that live in the area will be allowed access on a“local traffic only” basis to SW 7th Street on the north and south sides of SW 9th Street.
• Motorists are encouraged to take alternate routes should they need to travel in the vicinity.
• City of Miami Police officers will be placed along the street closures to provide assistance.
• SW 8th Street will reopen for vehicular traffic by 5 a.m. on Monday.

Photographer Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press