The annual Winter Party Festival returns to Miami in support of the LGBTQ movement.

March 1st – 7th, 2023

All of Miami is no stranger when it comes to having the best parties across the globe and to match that high energy was the National LGBTQ Task Force’s 30th Annual Winter Party Festival! This celebration consisted of a weeklong back-to-back event-filled engagement with music, dance, and community advocacy raising funds that contribute towards supporting the LGBTQ movement. Originating as far back as 1993, this global event started at a time when people living in a winter climate region were looking for a fun time in a warm climate and then decided to travel South to sunny side Florida to have a beach party that would eventually last a lifetime! For anyone new who has never participated in any of the previous Winter Party Festivals, both the amount of people that attend and the exquisite high-quality experience overall gives reason and a clear understanding just why people from all over world attend this event on a yearly basis. With three reminders at this year’s festival, “Live free, play hard, and give back” the Winter Party Festival was top notch best experience I have ever had in a long time! I was left needing a vacation from the vacation!

Beginning with a reception at the Royal Palm South Beach Miami and a VIP Cocktail Reception at the Esmé Miami Beach, we had a very special and unique intimate experience with some of the members that helped make and shape events like these in the LGBTQ Community. To name a few in attendance, there was Amrit Kapai & Nicholas Kouchoukos of the TV Show “Family Karma” of Bravo TV, and in attendance was the Executive Director of the Task Force, Kierra Johnson. Throughout the evening, taking care of the music was DJ Miguel Clark who provided just the right soundtrack needed to set the tone as the evening transitioned to the next event. Along with BACARDI being one of the major sponsors, the evening flowed smoothly from an elegant soirée to the beginning of what would feel like a nonstop 7-day party! The rooftop setting at Esmé was perfection on an evening out, right before moving the party over just next door at “Exchange Miami”. That party started at 10:30pm and went on until 2:00am, which is nothing compared to what the rest of the schedule held ahead!

The festival continued with a packed schedule of dance events highlighting some of the best venues in all of Miami. To gear up for an exciting weekend ahead was the “Elevate Pool Party” all Friday afternoon at the Moxy Miami South Beach, which then continued at Studio 60 Nightclub for the “Heat” Party to end the night. Each day that continued had a similar schedule all ramping up to the biggest event, the highlight of it all, how it all began – The Beach Party! This over-the-top Beach Party experience included a VIP special priority entry, Open Bar with an exclusive Cabana Club platform behind the legendary and Grammy-Nominated DJ Abel , all with the comfort of private air-conditioned restrooms! Years and years in the making, with no doubt one can in fact call the Winter Party Festival a one-of-a-kind special edition of the world’s greatest dance party in Miami Beach!

From beach parties to late night parties, to the after-after parties – the National Task Force’s 30th Annual Winter Party Festival was a week of unforgettable moments and experiences I will always hold dear to my heart. It’s not only the festivities, which was nothing less than extraordinary – it was what their mission stands for and their position statement regarding life on this earth. That we get to celebrate life “together to learn, live, love, laugh and forge lifelong relationships.” At the scene of the party, many in attendance were living their best life and it was evident in conversation that there were also many who had come from long distances to “live free, play hard, and give back” just as they also do back home through their own personal and professional engagements. It is of no wonder that the overall experience was that people were there to kick back, have a good time, and live life with ease!

The “Winter Party Festival” is sure to deliver whether it be one night of fun, or a weeklong party packed with festivities. This National LGBTQ Task Force event allows for opportunity to give back and creates memorable moments while splurging on a good time. The party may be over now, but the buzz continues waiting for next year’s biggest event yet, coming back with the same high-energy and perhaps familiar faces that may become lifelong friends; all in one community for the sake of love.