Bayfront Park New Year’s party ’100% still on’ amid COVID surge. It’ll also be on TV
A New Year’s Eve party planned for Miami’s downtown waterfront will go on as planned amid a surge in infections of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
The celebration at Bayfront Park, which is free admission and will feature musical performances by Hispanic artists Willy Chirino, Gente de Zona, Aymée Nuviola and Nacho, is “100% still on,” said Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, chairman of the city agency that manages the park.
“Unfortunately, COVID and its different variants are going to be with us for a long, long time,” Carollo told the Miami Herald on Dec. 21. “We’re going to have to learn to live with it.”
Carollo emphasized that the event is outdoors, adding that there will be many sanitation stations and free masks will be available for attendees.
The precautions were not enough for one of the scheduled performers, Puerto Rican pop singer Noelia, who told Miami New Times that she backed out of the event because she saw it as irresponsible. The artist said she canceled her appearance Friday after one of her friends died of COVID-19 and two others were hospitalized. The singer also told New Times that Carollo sent a mutual friend to ask her not to speak out about her cancellation.
At a press conference Thursday, Carollo called Noelia’s account an “absolute lie” and said she pulled out because she was angry that she wasn’t treated a like a headliner in the promotion of the event. The singer’s name and photo have appeared in the second row of artists on advertisements for the event.
How to watch
For those who want to see the music and fireworks but would prefer to avoid the crowd, the New Year’s Eve celebration will be broadcast on América TeVé WJAN-Channel 41 and its affiliates, and the city of Miami’s YouTube channel. The broadcast will begin at 6 p.m. and run to 12:30 a.m.
Carollo announced on Thursday that the event will broadcast to Cuba, a step that was lauded by local members of Hispanic media.
“That will be six hours of joy,” said Álvao Alba, who works in the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which operates TV and Radio Martí.
Miami police said Bayfront Park will open at noon Friday and traffic patterns are expected to change on adjacent streets.
Police plan to close Biscayne Boulevard at Northeast Sixth Street around 11 p.m. and reroute traffic westbound to make way for park visitors to leave. Based on congestion to the south, police may also re-route drivers on Brickell Avenue westbound at Southeast Seventh and Fifth streets.
The rapid spread of the highly contagious omicron has led to some cancellations, though they are not nearly as widespread as earlier in the pandemic. On Dec. 20, courts in Miami-Dade County paused jury trials for two weeks. Pop star Harry Styles canceled an upcoming concert on Miami Beach. The National Hockey League paused its season two days earlier than its normal holiday break, and the league will not be sending players to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
In remarks Dec. 21, President Joe Biden insisted the U.S. would not close schools or mandate lockdowns in the face of rising COVID infections.
“This is not March of 2020,” Biden said, referring to the early days of the pandemic, before vaccines and boosters. “Two hundred million people are fully vaccinated. We’re prepared. We know more.”
In Miami-Dade County, where data show the dominant COVID-19 strain is omicron, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has urged people to get COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots while reinstating the reporting of daily bed inventories at hospitals. Carollo echoed Biden and other U.S. municipal leaders in saying governments cannot keep shutting down as a way to battle COVID.
“You have to be cautious, and you have to be careful, but we still have to enjoy our lives,” Carollo said.
This story was updated on Dec. 30 to include traffic plans around the event and the cancellation of Noelia’s performance.
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
