Miami Carnival is 43 years old, and this year its biggest day leaves Miami-Dade. The Carnival Day Parade and Fete, the costumed procession of mas bands that closes out Columbus Day Weekend, takes over Central Broward Park and Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill on Sunday, Oct. 11, the day after J'Ouvert covers the same grounds in paint and powder. This year, every major event on the Miami Broward Carnival calendar sits in Broward County.

For anyone who has made the trek to the fairgrounds off Coral Way in past Octobers, that is the headline. For anyone in Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Plantation, Sunrise or Tamarac, it means the region's marquee Caribbean celebration is now a short drive, or a long walk, from home.

The weekend, day by day

The organizers, the nonprofit Miami-Broward One Carnival Host Committee, laid out a two-weekend schedule in their 2026 announcement. The first weekend has already happened: Junior Carnival and Pan Jamboree shared a stage at the Tamarac Sports Complex on Oct. 3, with children's mas bands and steelbands together in one daytime showcase. What remains is the main event.

Friday, Oct. 9: Red Road Fete in Tamarac. This one is brand new. The City of Tamarac is producing it with the carnival committee as a kickoff party for the long weekend, built around Caribbean music and a community crowd rather than costumes. Think of it as the warm-up before two early mornings and one very long day.

Saturday, Oct. 10: J'Ouvert in Lauderhill, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. J'Ouvert returns to Central Broward Park with more than 20 bands expected. The tradition, rooted in post-emancipation Trinidad, starts before most people have had coffee: revelers dance into daylight caked in paint, mud and powder, and the energy climbs for hours after sunrise. This year adds a J'Ouvert Jam Zone, a separate ticketed area with paint, powder, a complimentary drink from a sponsor, and live sets from Iwer George, Skinny Banton and Tallpree. One detail worth knowing before you buy: a Jam Zone or general admission ticket does not put you on the parade route itself. To be on the road, you join a band.

Sunday, Oct. 11: Carnival Day Parade and Fete in Lauderhill. This is the centerpiece. More than 16 masquerade bands are expected to take the road in full costume, followed by a live concert with international Caribbean performers. Around the parade route, the organizers are setting up a Caribbean Food Village, arts and crafts vendors and family entertainment, which makes this the day to bring people who have never been.

Why the parade moving matters

Miami Carnival has been a Columbus Day Weekend fixture since 1984, and for much of its recent history Carnival Day meant the Miami-Dade County Fair and Expo grounds in West Miami-Dade. The carnival's own site still carries shuttle notes pointing to the fairgrounds from past years, which tells you how established that routine was.

The shift north has been building. J'Ouvert and Pan Jamboree had already been staged at Central Broward Park, and the 2026 plan deepens the Broward partnerships: the City of Lauderhill is powering both J'Ouvert and the parade, Visit Lauderdale is hosting and presenting them, and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau remains a partner on Carnival Day. The committee's chairwoman, Joan Hinkson-Justin, framed the year as one of renewed momentum, with new ways in for audiences across South Florida.

It is a natural fit. Central Broward Park is home to Broward County Stadium, the cricket ground built for international matches, and the surrounding cities hold some of the largest Caribbean communities in the country. Bringing the parade there puts the celebration where a large share of its masqueraders, steelband players and food vendors already live.

What a mas band actually is

If you have only seen photos, the parade can look like one enormous costume party. It is more organized than that. A mas band, short for masquerade band, is a production: designers create a theme, the band is split into sections that each wear a different costume telling part of the story, and music trucks roll alongside to keep the whole thing moving. Large bands can run to dozens of sections and several trucks. Masqueraders pay to join a band and wear its costume, which is why the road is reserved for registered players and the rest of us watch, dance and eat along the edges.

The bands also compete. Each year the carnival names its bands of the year, so the costumes you see on Oct. 11 are the result of months of work by local mas camps.

Planning your weekend

  • Where: Central Broward Park and Broward County Stadium, 3700 NW 11th Place, Lauderhill, for both J'Ouvert and Carnival Day. Red Road Fete is in Tamarac.
  • Tickets: Sold through the official carnival site. Prices vary by event and by whether you want the parade alone or the parade plus the concert.
  • Logistics: Because some pages on the carnival site still show older shuttle and parking details from the fairgrounds years, check the latest instructions for Lauderhill before you leave home.
  • Accessibility: The organizers say all venues and restrooms are wheelchair accessible. Assistance is available through the committee at 305-653-1877.
  • For J'Ouvert: Wear clothes you are happy to throw away. You will not come home clean, and that is the point.

The bottom line

For years, Miami Carnival asked Broward to drive south for its biggest day. This year the parade comes to Lauderhill instead, and the whole weekend, from a new Friday fete in Tamarac to a sunrise J'Ouvert and a full Sunday of mas, music and food, lands within a few miles of the neighborhoods where so many of its masqueraders and steelband players live. If you have been meaning to go for years, this is the easiest it has ever been.