MIAMI – Miami is set to get its first-ever Fleet Week next year.
The Magic City has hosted various Navy Weeks and U.S. Navy ship visits before, but its first official Fleet Week is coming to PortMiami in May 2024, county and naval officials said in a joint announcement Friday.
U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro joined Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and other top officials for the announcement.
“It is going to be a great time in Miami next May,” Del Toro said.
Del Toro, a Cuban-American, grew up in Manhattan, but Miami’s Freedom Tower was his family’s first stop after emigrating from the island in 1962 when he was just one.
“As a Cuban-American, I feel very much at home in Miami,” he said.
The Navy will showcase ships and personnel as servicemembers experience the 305 from May 7-13.
“Everybody has a port,” Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert III said. “They got water, they got stuff — but we got style.”
Del Toro said sailors will get to experience the culture, food, and music Miami has to offer.
“I expect to see a few sailors and Marines dancing out there,” he said.
And they will likely find a Fleet Week special at The New Schnitzel House in the Upper East Side’s MiMo district, where owner Adam Gersten said the timing strikes a sweet spot for the area’s hospitality industry, just after spring break.
“(It) helps us gets through the slower times like right now in the summer,” he said.
Levine Cava said she and other county officials are “delighted to showcase to our residents and visitors the extraordinary work of the Navy.”
Event moving from Port Everglades
Fleet Week coming to Miami means that the event will no longer be held in Fort Lauderdale.
“The Navy is incredibly excited to accept the county’s invitation and bring our ships and Sailors to PortMiami for Fleet Week Miami 2024,” Capt. Patrick Evans, a spokesperson for the Secretary of the Navy, said. “We hope this is the beginning of a terrific relationship that we can enjoy for years in the future.”
Evans said Fort Lauderdale “has been an amazing host for over 30 years.”
Port Everglades also released a statement Friday:
“Fleet Week has been hosted at Port Everglades for 33 years, and we stand ready to service the U.S. Navy on its return to our port.
We’re willing and prepared to share our decades of Fleet Week knowledge with our counterparts at PortMiami and have already reached out to offer assistance.
While we will miss the chance to serve the U.S. Navy and community, this change affords us a welcome relief as we’re laser-focused on our preparations for a banner cruise season through May that includes our port hosting nearly twice as many cruise ships next summer as normal.”
Jonathan Daniels, Port Everglades CEO and Port Director
For more information on Fleet Week Miami, visit its website.