This weekend’s 62nd edition of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival will be the last under a five-year contract with events management company Loud And Live. Deciding whether to renew the agreement or strike out in a new direction comes amid internal soul-searching within a governing board marked by unusually long tenures and little turnover.
Over the next few days, workers will put up fencing, booths, tents and an outdoor stage for the 62nd edition of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, a community institution that reflects the village’s free-spirited, bohemian roots.
Over the past four years, organizers say the annual three-day event over President’s Day weekend has evolved into a smoothly run, family-oriented event after they turned over logistics to Loud And Live, a Doral-based firm that specializes in producing large-scale events.
But once the last tent comes down, the 12-member board of the nonprofit Coconut Grove Arts & Historical Association — which produces the festival — will face a consequential decision: whether to continue working with Loud And Live, the Doral-based for-profit events company credited with modernizing the festival, or to chart a different course for one of Miami’s most venerable cultural institutions.
The festival now brings 285 juried artists, live performances and interactive art zones to a multi-block stretch of barricaded village streets just steps from the Grove’s waterfront.
Proceeds support scholarships for Miami-Dade high school students and Florida International University, as well as programs such as Visiting Artists and the Next Generation Emerging Artist initiative.
This year’s festival, running Feb. 14–16, marks the final season under a five-year management contract with Loud And Live, a partnership few would dispute has been a success.
For many years the event was run by a small in-house staff overseen by Grove businessman Monty Trainer, who served as the festival’s longtime president until retiring in 2024.
As costs to stage the event steadily climbed, the nonprofit team struggled to make ends meet. The 2021 festival was canceled due to lackluster, COVID-era ticket sales. To bring it back the following year, board members turned to Loud And Live for help.
“We couldn’t afford to raise the $1 million that it took to put the festival together,” said Lilia Garcia, who has served on the association’s board for more than 20 years. “So we needed to look for other avenues. And to be honest with you, this was the easiest avenue to take.”
Dave Hill Jr., the association’s current chairman, who joined the board in 2020 after decades working behind the scenes as a volunteer, helped interview production companies before recommending Loud And Live.
“It’s changed the festival,” he told Coconut Grove Spotlight. “Over the last four years, we have had younger crowds. I think it was a good benefit to have Loud And Live with us.”
Hill credits the company with bringing in sponsors and for a different level of polish and attention to detail. “From where we first started to where we are now with the production company, it’s totally different,” he said. “It runs cleaner and it’s a lot more colorful.”
Hill said he gives “Loud And Live at “an 8” on a 10-point scale for their work with the festival.
Amid questions surrounding Loud And Live’s future with the festival is the organization’s peripheral role in a lingering controversy — first reported by the Miami Herald — centered on the A3 Foundation, a politically wired nonprofit now under heightened scrutiny after receiving millions of dollars in county and state funding despite a limited public record of charitable activity.
According to news reports, Loud And Live agreed under its contract with Miami-Dade County to pay the startup foundation $5 million over 20 years in connection with its management of the CountryFest rodeo at Tropical Park.
Tony Albelo, Loud And Live’s CEO, did not respond to phone and email requests for comment.
Beyond the art and ambiance, the festival’s financial footing has steadily improved.
According to the festival’s most recent tax filings, the foundation’s finances have strengthened in recent years. In 2024, the organization ended the year with a surplus of $172,377 after expenses, including charitable contributions — nearly double the $91,861 reported the year before. Expenses rose modestly to $2.3 million from $2.2 million, but increased revenue more than offset the higher costs.
Loud And Live’s compensation has increased alongside the rising revenues.
In 2024 the company’s take rose to $958,801, up from $563,917 the previous year, reflecting a compensation structure tied to overall festival revenue.
“The way the agreement is structured, they get paid more if there’s more revenue being brought in,” said festival executive director Camille Marchese, the association’s only full-time employee. “They are for-profit. We pretty much make enough money to cover our operating budget and our scholarships.”
Board members and Marchese say those numbers need to be understood against the backdrop of surging overhead. “The problem is the overhead: the police, the fire, the city rent, the city parks department,” Hill said. “It’s almost $300,000 just in city services. So it’s got to come from somewhere.”
Marchese ticks off other costs that have crept up. “Food costs are 20 percent higher,” she said. “Our posters were 20 percent more to have printed. What people don’t understand is that everybody that works at an event deserves to be paid—from the hourly employees taking a ticket to the guys putting up the scaffolding for the stage.”
One place where the board and Loud And Live are trying to ease tensions is at the gate.
After fielding complaints about confusing, shifting prices last year, the festival is rolling out a simplified, slightly lower admission structure. This year’s base admission is $29 plus a $1.99 service fee if purchased online — a $10 reduction from last year’s price.
Buying at the gate will cost $36.99. There’s a $169.99 VIP option, a $40 “family” special for two adults and unlimited kids on the festival’s final day, and a $21.99 discounted Grove resident rate available at Barracuda Taphouse & Grill on Fuller Street.
“The board made that decision to lower the price,” Marchese said, noting the online price is deliberately lower. “We want people to buy in advance because the lines back up — and then people complain about that.”
Despite higher police, food and printing costs, Marchese believes the lower ticket price could help their bottom line by boosting overall visitor totals, including those who balked at last year’s ticket prices.
The event also has a VIP option — the Collector’s Club — located in the Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove where guests have access to private bathrooms, an air-conditioned sitting area, and an open bar and hors d’oeuvres.
One cost that won’t be pushed higher this year are the booth fees paid by the participating artists, which range from $875 to $1,750, depending on booth size and location. “[The fees] are pretty high already,” Marchese said. “They’re some of the highest in the country as it is. I really don’t want to increase them if we don’t have to.”
Event sponsorships start at $10,000.
Behind the scenes, Marchese’s broad range of responsibilities reflects the lean structure that prompted the board to outsource production in the first place.
“I handle everything with the exception of the permitting and the physical stuff at the gate,” she said. “I’m responsible for the artists, I’m responsible for the parties, I’m responsible for the grant writing. I’m responsible for everything but the physical on-site production of that show and the marketing.”
She is careful to point out that the decision on Loud And Live’s future lies with the board. “My input might matter to some of them,” Marchese said, “but it’s ultimately their decision.”
Garcia acknowledges some growing pains over the life of Loud And Live’s five-year contract. “We were learning as we went,” Garcia recalled. “Whenever we complain, right away, they try to find a better way. I’m not saying that we like everything they do, but they don’t like everything we do either.”
Garcia, who helped push for outsourcing when it felt like the only way to survive, now speaks about the relationship in terms of options. “It was the smartest decision at that time,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that it’s still the best choice today, but when we did it, we were able to breathe.”
The decision about the company’s future with the festival comes amid a degree of soul searching among board members over the importance of new blood and new ideas.
The foundation’s 12-member board has unusually long tenures, reflecting governance bylaws that do not impose term limits or otherwise encourage turnover.
Nine board members, like Garcia, have served 20 or more years; two others more than a decade; and Hill, now in his sixth year, took over a board seat from his father, who himself served more than two decades.
For incoming chairperson Pam Meyer, who grew up in Coconut Grove and once volunteered at the festival before joining the board, continuity is both a strength and a weakness. “What I find challenging for a lot of nonprofit boards, including ours, is attracting young people who want to join,” Meyer said.
Board members routinely cast a net looking for possible replacements, she said, but Miami’s transient nature limits the pool of candidates.
“Over the last five to 10 years, we’ve had a few new people, but maybe they had to move away or their jobs were too demanding,” she said. “We’re very welcoming to meeting some new people and for them to apply. We would get to know them, know their resume, etcetera.”
Meyer added that she presently is wooing two new prospective board members. “Hopefully they’ll be interested in joining because you have to come to a festival for at least a year and get to know what goes on to see if it’s for [them],” she said.
Garcia, the longtime arts educator, is blunt about the need for a governance reset. “We definitely need younger blood, and we need more representation of the community: Black, White, Hispanic, Asian,” she said. “We need to make an effort to do that.”
At the same time, neither she nor Meyer plan to step away soon. “I expect to continue being on the board for at least two years because I am the incoming chairperson,” Meyer said. “I’m not quitting. I’m good at it.”
Garcia puts it more starkly: “There have been years where things have been hard, where I haven’t agreed with some of the stuff the foundation is doing. But I’m not a quitter. I’ve never quit anything. I just feel I can help make it better. I’ll quit when I die.”
Hill, who has chaired the board for two years, says the directors recognize that the festival itself has had to evolve — better artists, strong art sales — and that their own expectations must evolve with it.
“I’ve been chairman for two years so I think I have been doing something good for the festival,” he said. “The board realizes it has to change.”
Coconut Grove Arts Festival: What to Know
What: The 62nd Coconut Grove Arts Festival will run from Saturday, February 14 to Monday, February 16. The festival features food, music, and 285 juried artists occupying the streets of Coconut Grove.
When: Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.
Where: Artist booths will line McFarlane Road, Pan American Drive, and the southern stretch of South Bayshore Drive. Food tents and trucks will be set up within Myers Park. Music is performed on stage at Peacock Park.
Tickets: General admission is $29 plus a $1.99 service fee when purchased online, or $36.99 at the gate. A discounted $21.99 rate is available to Coconut Grove residents with ID at Barracuda Taphouse & Grill on Fuller Street. Additional options include a $169.99 VIP pass, and a $40 family special (two adults with unlimited children) on the festival’s final day.
Access and parking: Street access will be limited. Visitors are encouraged to use public transit, rideshare or, better yet, walk or bike. Limited metered parking, parking garages, and private lots are also available.
Rules: No pets are allowed at the event. No outside alcoholic beverages can be brought into the festival. More info: visit cgaf.com or for ticketing support call (877) 253-8717.
$37 for entry to walk our streets, buy art and pay for overpriced drinks in the process. Bring back the old days …no entry fee, cheap draught beer, and top performers in the park.
The Beaux Arts Festival on the UM Campus is the Polar Opposite of The Coconut Grove Art Festival. Family oriented, free entry, lots of live entertainment, welcomes pets and bike riders, located under shady trees, plenty of grass, surrounded by creative architecture, plenty of local artists exhibiting their creativity, an opportunity to chat with artists and meet your neighbors, a variety of well priced foods and beverages to choose from and last but not least… convenient and most affordable parking or just a short walk from the University MetroRail Station.