The Kiwanis Club of Little Havana, a vital resource for the city’s underserved youth, runs two of the largest events of every Miami winter: Carnaval Miami, known as the largest Hispanic festival in the nation; and the Calle Ocho Music Festival. Jorge Fernandez, the club’s president, estimates the revenue from those two gatherings alone funds more than 80 percent of the organization’s youth programs annually.
This year, although Carnaval Miami took place as scheduled in early March, revenues suffered because people had already begun to avoid large groups to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. “Usually in liquor sales, we make over $100,000, and that was reduced considerably,” Fernandez says. Other events within Carnaval, such as the food and wine festival Cork & Fork, also saw much lower attendance.
The situation grew much worse when the Calle Ocho Music Festival, initially scheduled for March 15, was canceled. That move meant losing all of the expected revenue from the event, which usually brings in about half a million dollars for the organization, which uses the funds to sustain its youth services for much of the rest of the year. Now, without that money, the club’s programming — which includes after-school activities, scholarships, and health-related financial assistance — is in jeopardy.
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Photo by Karli Evans, via Miami New Times
