How to actually do the week, from people who have. Tickets, transit, food, and staying safe.
Lock the must-sees, pace the week, and buy only where it is safe.
Lock your one or two must-see nights now, then leave room: Basel lineups land in waves. Factory Basel posted first names Oct 1 and single nights a week later, and Space Basel's two weekend nights sold out online before any names were out. Headline nights sell out first, so join each crew's presale list (Space calls it Invader Access).
Plan from Monday, not the weekend. Jolene opens Mon Nov 30 and Space Basel Tue Dec 1, days before the fair opens to the public on Fri Dec 4.
One main event a day: the most common mistake is going too hard, too early. Factory, Space and Where Are My Keys all run past sunrise, so pick the mornings you actually want to see and sleep through the rest.
Count your nights before you buy a pass: it only pays if you'll really go most nights. Otherwise build the week like a ladder: free days, cheap nights (an early tier at Floyd, a night at Jolene), and one big Factory or Space night you'd hate to miss.
Sold out? Use the Dice wait list, never the DMs. A Dice ticket lives only in the Dice app, so a screenshot, PDF or emailed barcode is fake by design. On the wait list a returned ticket comes to you at face value, with a short window to buy. Can't go? Put yours back on the list. Outside the venue, walk past anyone selling wristbands.
Assume no refunds. Dice only refunds a show that's cancelled or moved, though One Life and Do Not Sit on Art Week give a short window after you buy. On Eventbrite each organizer sets its own rules, and you can't pass a ticket to a friend, only edit the name on the order.
The free side first, then the crews and who each night is for.
A lot of Art Week is free, and Wynwood is where it lives: gallery openings, brand pop ups and public art, no ticket needed. Last year HIVE at Wynwood Marketplace was free all four days, with a drink for the first 250 RSVPs before 9pm. The rule for free: RSVP early, then arrive early, because the good ones fill up.
Space Basel is the Terrace marathon: four nights from Tuesday (Prophecy, Beltools, Paradise, Music On), each running past sunrise into the next day, then the weekend: Space Basel Saturday and the Closing Party, Sunday night into Tuesday, both already sold out online. It's for fans who want the long set and the sunrise.
Factory Basel is the festival of the week: five nights in an old Hialeah factory, each of the five stages handed to a different crew, doors to sunrise. Come for the range, since one ticket lets you wander. Saturday is Circoloco, already sold out. General admission (GA) is 18+, VIP is 21+.
Where Are My Keys is the Electric Pickle crew's underground marathon by the airport: four days of deep, long sets, with names like Ricardo Villalobos. It's for heads who want to disappear into it. Their own advice: pace yourself.
One Life is Michael Bibi's party, brought by III Points to the open air racetrack at Hialeah Park on Saturday, 5pm to 1am. A day show you can still sleep after. GA is 18+, VIP is 21+.
Jolene is the small room downtown that throws a Basel night every night, Monday to Sunday, and one cheap pass covers all seven. The fam move: it's the easy fallback when plans fall through.
Do Not Sit on the Furniture is the small house and techno room on South Beach, four nights from Wednesday. It's for Beach stays who want a real dancefloor without crossing the bay.
Timed tickets, the sunrise move, and the ID every door asks for.
Big nights: get in early, then stay in. Closing nights are the busiest of the week. With a before 1am or after 2am ticket, be at the door 30 to 45 minutes ahead, because the cutoff counts at the door, not the back of the line. Most rooms have no re-entry.
The veteran Space move: sleep first, go in for sunrise. The Terrace peaks as night turns into day, the floor opens up by mid morning, and from 7am Space serves açaí, mimosas and cafecito. Several Space Basel nights sell cheaper day tiers for walking in after sunrise. On the biggest nights the line still builds, so don't cut it fine.
Bring a physical ID to every door: a driver license, state ID, passport or US military ID, and the passport if you're visiting from abroad. You must be 21 to drink, and VIP areas are usually 21+. Some parties let in 18+, but under 21 with a drink is a misdemeanor, and a fake ID is a felony.
Art Basel and the fairs around it: tickets, doors, bags and the late openings.
Go at opening, at the time and door on your ticket: within an hour the fair fills up, and many people find one day is enough. A day ticket is single entry, so once you leave you're out; the weekend ticket lets you back in. No refunds.
Ask for the cheaper ticket: students, ages 13 to 18, seniors, veterans and Miami Beach residents pay less with proof, and kids 12 and under go free with an adult. A combo ticket adds Design Miami next door.
Buy fair tickets only from Art Basel, and know they cover the fair only. Tickets from anyone else are void. Every party sells on its own page (Dice, Eventbrite, Shotgun). One person can buy for the whole group, since every ticket has its own barcode.
Leave the backpack at the hotel: the fair takes one bag each and no backpacks at any size. Bring an empty water bottle (there are refill stations inside) and nothing else to eat or drink.
If you add one more fair, many regulars pick Untitled or NADA for newer artists. Untitled sits on the sand at 12th St and is single entry, so plan one visit; InScope is new this year at 8th St. NADA is at Ice Palace Studios near downtown, closed Sunday.
For art after dark, go to Aqua: Art Basel closes at 6pm, and Aqua Art Miami on Collins stays open until 9pm Thursday to Saturday.
Staying downtown? Art Miami and CONTEXT share one site on the bay all week, a block from the Adrienne Arsht Metromover stop. The multi-day ticket also gets you a day at Aqua on the Beach.
Getting a ride to or from the fair? Set your pin at the official pickup points on Washington Ave or Convention Center Drive.
From MIA or Fort Lauderdale to the base that fits your nights.
Pick your base by your week, not the price, because the bridges decide your nights. The Beach is for the fair and the beach parties. Downtown puts you near Space, Floyd and Jolene. Wynwood and Edgewater sit in the middle. If your week is Factory and Where Are My Keys, stay by the airport.
From MIA the train is the cheap way in: the free MIA Mover takes you to Metrorail, and the Orange Line runs to downtown and Brickell. For the Beach, the 150 bus runs from the airport until 10pm. Both cost $2.25. Land later and it's a taxi or a ride app.
At MIA, ignore anyone in the terminal offering you a ride: it's illegal, and many of those drivers are unlicensed and uninsured. Taxis wait at the arrivals curb, and ride app pickups are at the door your app shows.
Flying into Fort Lauderdale? Follow the signs to the ride app pickup on the arrivals level, or take Brightline, the fast train south to downtown Miami; its airport shuttle is included in your ticket.
Rides, buses, bikes and the bridges, and how to get home at 4am.
Plan your ride home before you go in. Trains stop at midnight, and the free Metromover, trolleys and Freebee rides all stop by then, most well before. The free water taxi runs by day only for now: last Art Week it ran until midnight, but this year's schedule isn't out yet.
Walk a few blocks from the exit before you call the car: it usually comes faster and costs less. Ride apps surge when the clubs let out, and the upfront price shows it, so check it before you confirm. Taxis are metered, with a $15 minimum from MIA.
Leaving Factory Town takes a plan: signal gets weak and the pickup gets busy at close. Walk a few blocks with your crew before you call the car, or leave a little before the end.
Cross the bay as little as you can. Every Beach to Space trip takes a causeway, and in Art Week traffic a short ride can take well over an hour. The Venetian has a toll, charged by plate if you don't have a SunPass (Florida's toll tag).
After midnight, Route 100 is your bus: it runs all night, about once an hour, between downtown, South Beach and up Collins. Many other routes stop at 10pm this year, including the airport express and the Beach routes. A day pass lasts until 2am, and the train gates take a tap of your card or phone.
Don't drive to the Beach at night. South Beach street parking is metered around the clock, and a tow costs over $430, cash only. If you must, the city garages charge $15 flat on weekend nights. At Factory Town there's no onsite parking, and anyone waving you into a spot nearby isn't official.
Citi Bike runs 24 hours across Miami and the Beach. To ride to the Beach, cross on the Venetian, the causeway with bike lanes; the Julia Tuttle is off limits to bikes. On the Beach, ride in the street: scooters and e-bikes are banned on sidewalks and the Beachwalk, and Lincoln Road and the Ocean Drive sidewalks are off limits to all bikes.
21 to drink, and the laws visitors trip on.
No alcohol, smoking, glass, coolers, tents or loud music on Miami Beach's city beaches. Leave the cooler and the bottle at the hotel.
Open containers are banned in public on Miami Beach, and bars can't let you leave with a drink. Finish it before you walk out onto Collins.
Weed is not legal in Florida. Up to 20 grams is a misdemeanor, but anything made from resin, and any other drug without a prescription, is a felony.
What to pack, what the bill adds, and where to find water at 4am.
Pack for dry, warm days and mild nights: about 78F by day and 68F at 4am, little rain, and the sea around 76F. A light layer covers the walk out at dawn.
Read the bill before you tip: some places add it already. Beach meals carry a little extra tax, and hotels add 12 to 13%. Bring cash for the Space bar, where cards need a $20 minimum.
Need water or electrolytes at 4am? The Walgreens at 200 SW 13th St in Brickell is open 24 hours, pharmacy included (it closes 1:30am to 2am for a meal break). On Miami Beach, the CVS at 312 Lincoln Road is open 24 hours, with the pharmacy on day hours.
Carry an empty bottle on transit days: Miami-Dade's new HydroStations give free chilled water at transit hubs, starting at Government Center station.
Emergency numbers, the laws that protect you, and the beach rules. Read it once before the week.
If a friend overdoses, call 911. Florida's Good Samaritan law protects you and the person overdosing from arrest for drug possession found because of that call.
Turn on Uber's ride PIN: you tell the driver a 4-digit code, and the trip can't start without it. The in-app emergency button calls 911 and shares your live location, car and plate.
Not an emergency? City of Miami Police: (305) 579-6111. Miami Beach Police: (305) 673-7900, also the line to report a crime. Anything urgent is 911.
The two ERs to know, both open 24 hours: Jackson Memorial on the mainland, home to the area's main trauma center, and Mount Sinai on the Beach.
Heavy sweating, cool clammy skin, dizziness or nausea means heat exhaustion: get them somewhere cool, loosen their clothes and give sips of water. Confusion, slurred speech or hot red skin means heat stroke: call 911 and don't give fluids.
Free naloxone (Narcan) kits are available across Florida. Find a pickup point at isavefl.com. Factory Town lets you bring sealed nasal naloxone in.
Fentanyl test strips are legal in Florida, so carrying them isn't a paraphernalia offense.
Beach day: keep your phone in a waterproof pouch, bring only the cash you need, leave one person with the bags, set up near a lifeguard tower, and leave when the beach closes.
Check the flag on the lifeguard tower before you swim: green is low hazard, yellow medium, red high, red with a crossed out swimmer means closed, and purple means dangerous marine life. Flags only fly while lifeguards are on duty. Conditions line: (305) 673-7714.