09/23/2022
a statement to our community and collaborators on the September 30th Opa-Locka Flea Market Closing Event
The foundation of all the events we each collectively produce is to gather our community and provide highly curated & intimate experiences to remember forever. Since 1985, thousands have gathered at the Opa-Locka / Hialeah Flea Market every year to buy from local merchants, seek specialized services and dance their worries away. So when we first we learned of the market’s closing, we knew this was a significant moment to commemorate a historical landmark to Miami’s culture. We gathered our collectives and for the past few months have been taking every measure possible to do this closing event properly: contracts with the market, pull event permits, book only Miami artists, and so much more.
So it comes with heavy sadness that we have to announce the cancellation of what was to be such a beautiful closing event due to factors outside of our control. We received a call yesterday from the market’s management that the new developers of the property are denying us access to use the space for this event, without consideration of all the months of planning that’s taken place, contracts that have been signed, thousands of dollars in already incurred costs by all involved parties, and guarantees provided to us over & over again by the current management.
To say we are disappointed is an understatement, we were so excited to share this special collaboration among us and so many other community organizations we hadn’t even announced yet. While we won’t be able to celebrate the market’s memory as intended, we still encourage you to visit it one last time before it closes to support the local vendors that have called it home for decades. And rest assured Miami, there’s so more special moments like these on the horizon from all of us involved, and we can’t wait to share them with you!
- PROIBIDÆ, ANNEX, INTERNET FRIENDS & THE BOOMBOX