ICA Miami Hosts Circus Themed Family Fest

Expect the unexpected at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami’s Family Fest. The fundraiser for the museum will be held on Saturday, October 1 from noon to 3 p.m.

“This is actually our inaugural family event,” said Lisa Fernandez, ICA Miami’s Director of Education and Community Engagement. “We are partnering with the Miami Design District.”

The circus themed fest will feature a host of activities including art, music and a variety of performances.
Attendees can hop on a trolley, get their faces painted, get up close to Fantasy Theater jugglers or pick an art station to explore their creativity. And if you’re overwhelmed and looking for somewhere to wind down, a sensory friendly quiet room will also be available. From Palm Court, to Paradise Plaza, Sweet Bird North and ICA Miami, there’ll be entertainment for everyone.

“We will be activating multiple locations within the district with face painting and jugglers and art making,” said Fernandez. “We are also bringing in a dog circus from a Ukrainian family that runs it.”

Bubbles as part of the ICA Family Festival. Image courtesy of ICA Miami.

Local stores have also joined in on the festivities to lend a hand.

“We’ve gotten a very positive response,” said Fernandez.

State of Kid will provide fun activities, C’est Chou is offering refreshments, and Spot Barbershop will have haircuts for a $25 donation fee. All proceeds raised will benefit a good cause.

“We are raising funds for our education initiatives,” explained Fernandez, who noted that they are also building on existing programs.

“We are actually expanding our programming to Morningside Elementary School and Hoover Elementary School. We’re working with them to expand our Portfolio Prep program which is a program that helps students increase their skills in drawing and art and helps them to prepare for the application process for arts magnet schools.”

Other programs will also receive a boost, including partnerships between ICA and local organizations that are aimed towards children in non-traditional settings.

“We have our Narrative Community Engagement program where we work with local organizations like Urgent Inc. and Girl Power. We also work with youth that are incarcerated. We work with the detention centers, with the boys and the girls and we work with Citrus Health, which is [an inpatient] living treatment facility…one of the only ones here in Florida.

“We also bring in teaching artists to work with students on art programming that focuses on identity and telling their story. So we use art as a tool for self expression with these particular programs.”
Fernandez encourages residents to stop by, support their dynamic programming and have a good time.

Regardless of conditions, the show will go on.

“The event will happen rain or shine,” she said. “We have a rain plan so don’t worry about the weather. We will also have a trolley that will loop around the district to take people from place to place.”

The event, she said, will also be a good opportunity for neighbors to reconnect.

“It’s really about bringing together the community after, let’s be honest, two rather difficult years for families. We really wanted a way to bring people together.”

WHAT: ICA MIAMI Family Fest
WHEN: 12 to 3 p.m. Saturday, October 1, 2022
WHERE: ICA Miami 61 NE 41st Street, Miami and multiple locations throughout the Design District.
COST: $25 Individual tickets / $90 Group of 4 tickets / $200 Pack of 10 tickets
INFORMATION: Visit icamiami.org/calendar/family-fest for full list of scheduled performances

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