Community Updates
Coral Gables Farmers Market
Each year it reappears for 11 weeks then vanishes, like some sort of fruit fly with a short life span. So, take ad- vantage now of the Coral Gables Farmers Market, which returned January 15 for its limited run. It’s located directly in front of City Hall at 405 Merrick Way, with three dozen vendors selling their goods.
While it’s called a Farmers Market, the fresh produce is limited to a couple of stands, albeit laden with fruits and veggies. It should be called “Artisans Market,” since most of the stands are selling things like cheeses, Italian ice, baked goods, spices, honey, flavored nuts, candles, acai bowls, and coffee. One stand even sells avocado toast, another bonsai plants and another calzones. Not that there is anything wrong with that. We had a great strawberry-flavored Italian ice, followed by an iced Vietnamese coffee. Necessary, because there is a lack of shade – so just be sure to bring hats and sunblock. But not to worry if you don’t; there are plenty of tables in between the vendor tents shaded with umbrellas to enjoy your tasty purchases. Saturdays until March 26, from 8am to 2pm.—Carmen Fraga
A Little Night Music
We’ll probably never be a street-music-crazed city like New Orleans, but kudos to the downtown BID (Business Improvement District) for trying to get us just a little bit closer. Two years ago (pre-pandemic) the BID tried putting musicians on street corners. Just too random, with no place to sit and listen. Now comes the downtown “Encore!” music series on Thursday evenings at McBride Plaza, the grassy lot adjacent to Barnes and Noble (150 Miracle Mile). On the evenings of Feb 10 & 24, March 10 & 24, and April 7th, the music starts at 5:30 pm and goes ‘till 7:30 pm. The young musicians are all from UM’s Frost School of Music, and will play classical, jazz, or rock, depending on the night.
A Meet and Greet with “Feet”
It was postponed for two weeks thanks to the Omicron variant sweeping the nation, but ON YOUR FEET! is, well, back on its feet, and ready for its local premier Feb. 9. The musical, a hit on Broadway, is the rags-to-riches story of our very own Gloria and Emilio Estefan. The Actors’ Playhouse production (see Best Bets) will feature members of the original Broadway production, local professionals, and musicians from the original Miami Sound Machine. Pictured here is Gloria Estefan, who paid a surprise visit to the cast during rehearsals. She’s posing with Jason Canela and Claudia Yanez, who will star as Emilio and Gloria, in front of the Miracle Theater. She may have sold 100 million records, and with husband Emilio won 26 GRAMMY awards, but she’s still our hometown girl