With a green tennis ball as bait, William Ruiz cast out his line from a perch atop the Park Central Hotel, waited for a nibble, and then furiously reeled in his catch -- a brass wire.

Nearly 100 feet below on Ocean Drive, as Ruiz repeated his task over and over again, Cristina Cercone craned her neck back, trying to figure out why tennis balls were falling from the sky.

``What the hell are they doing?'' asked the 27-year-old tourist from Italy.

Stringing and tuning the world's largest harp, of course.

The odd scene unfolding in South Beach Friday afternoon was just one of a few preparations before Saturday's main event: the return of Sleepless Night, a 13-hour smorgasbord of art, music and just about anything entertaining or out of the ordinary.

More than 150 performances and exhibits will be held at about 80 locations throughout four zones in the city. Restaurants and shops will remain open all night, and a city known for late-night parties may actually stay awake past its usual bedtime.

Oh, and it's free.

Modeled after the Nuit Blanche series that has kept cities like Rome and Montreal awake all night in Europe and Canada, Sleepless Night is making its second appearance in Miami Beach. More than 100,000 people attended the event's debut in 2007, but Sleepless Night was ditched in 2008 when fundraising efforts fizzled.

``We have tried to give people the ability to see things they've never been able to see before,'' said Max Sklar, Miami Beach's director of tourism and cultural development.

From 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., robotic instruments will play themselves, government-sponsored digital graffiti will adorn the facade of Miami Beach Senior High, and in the morning, MASS Ensemble will host a yoga class to the resonating vibrations of the Earth Harp hanging over Ocean Drive.

More traditional theater acts, musical performances and independent films will also be available, along with family-friendly events. Some features, like the flash mob dance and pajama run, are interactive.

Organizers expect as many as 200,000 visitors for this year's event, though without ticket sales it is hard to know how many will be from outside Miami Beach.

Sklar said this year's event has been improved from two years ago, when the city was caught off guard by the number of people who showed up. He said there will be information booths posted around the city this year, and additional stops for the free trolleys that ride around Miami Beach all night.

Sleepless Night 2009 cost about $675,000 -- raised mostly through grants and private sponsorships, including $75,000 from title sponsor Audi, Sklar said.

But officials say the event is worth the cost and time in a city that considers itself one of the most unique places in the world.

``You can't be a world-class city without a commitment to the arts,'' said Vice Mayor Deede Weithorn.

Julia Snyder, one half of the Los Angeles-based Tweaksters, an act she described as Cirque du Soleil meets Blue Man Group, said she hopes to see as many acts as possible after her group's performance.

``To have the government rise up and celebrate the arts and the creative spirit like this is unique,'' she said.

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