A merging of cultures is happening in Miami, where F1's circuit has become a beach vacation
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — In between the loud zooms of cars whipping around the race track, nightclub-like electronic beats blared through the speakers at the Miami Grand Prix.
Some attendees took in the scene sitting comfortably in shaded trackside suites. Some dipped their feet in a pool at the Hard Rock Beach Club, the signature day club at the Miami International Autodrome that provides a tropical backdrop for some of the most popular music acts in the city.
Hard Rock Stadium organizers are used to hosting some of the biggest events in sports: The Super Bowl. Tennis tournaments. College football's national championship game.
Formula One is just the latest annual star-studded spectacle.
As F1 has gained popularity in the U.S. in recent years — thanks in part to the popular Netflix series 'Drive to Survive' — the Miami Grand Prix has become one of the more appealing stops on the F1 calendar, infusing racing weekend with festival-like concerts and parties to draw more people to the track.
'Fan bases are built at events, not on television,' said Tom Garfinkel, managing partner of the Miami Grand Prix. 'I think you become a fan at the event. So if we can create a great festival atmosphere here for casual fans and then they come, they're going to fall in love with the racing.'
There are two other F1 races in the U.S. every year. Las Vegas was added to the schedule in 2023 and F1 also makes a stop at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. But Miami Grand Prix feels its emphasis on music, entertainment and Miami's culture is what sets its race apart.
'At the end of the day when you think about that Miami culture, you're thinking about the sunshine, you're thinking about great culinary offerings,' said Keith Sheldon, Hard Rock's president of entertainment and brand management, 'and you're also thinking about amazing music.'
'Certainly other F1 races have done a great job bringing in amazing musicians and bands and performers to help elevate the offerings,' Sheldon added. 'But I think that Miami really makes it a part of every race. It's in between runs. It's before qualifying, after. There's just so much happening around music and entertainment.'
In the fourth year of the event's 20-year stay in Miami, a mix of pop and Latin acts filled the entertainment lineup to appeal to both a local and global audience. Around 275,000 people were expected to attend the three-day race weekend, Garfinkel said. About 60% of those attendees were from Florida, with a majority living in South Florida.
Dutch music producer DJ Tiesto was set play at the start and finish of Sunday's race. Pitbull was headlining a concert later that evening. Other weekend performances included popular Miami-born DJ Steve Aoki and electro-dance duo Sofi Tukker.
On Saturday, Lando Norris beat McLaren Racing teammate Oscar Piastri to win an eventful, rain-soaked sprint race early in the afternoon. Max Verstappen edged Norris of by .065 seconds in qualifying later that day to take the top starting spot for Sunday's race.
Both races were displayed on a huge outdoor jumbotron at the beach club, which is by Turns 11, 12 and 13. Sprawling white cabanas lined the area to provide a mild escape from the sweltering South Florida heat. There's a bar in the center of the outdoor club and a pool right beside that.
Later that evening, the area turned into a concert pit for Aoki's high-energy set.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
'It combines all the best things of Miami,' said Stacey Mageropoulos, a Ferrari fan who drove in from the nearby city Sunrise. 'You get Formula One, but then you get the beach experiences, which everyone knows Miami for that. … I'm at a festival while I'm at F1. It's the best of both worlds.'
Music also took a front seat just outside the team garages at the track, where upbeat tunes that make up the soundtrack for this summer's 'F1' movie could be heard. The Miami Grand Prix was the first time that most people could listen to the records, which featured a range of artists from Ed Sheeran and Doja Cat to Roddy Ricch.
'I think it's great to merge the worlds,' Ricch said Saturday, his first time at an F1 event. 'You see what Travis Scott does when he goes to be with WWE, with the wrestlers. It's all different people who just love and enjoy entertainment and culture. That's always a good way to blend different worlds.'
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
35 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
How ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game' seeded a music nonprofit supporting the songwriters of tomorrow
NEW YORK (AP) — It's sung every summer in baseball stadiums around the United States. But the impact of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' goes much further than simply getting fans out of their seats for the 7th-inning stretch. More than a century after Jack Norworth penned the lyrics, a nonprofit founded with the song's royalties is celebrating 50 years of supporting young musicians — including the talent behind some of today's most popular musicals. The ASCAP Foundation, the charitable arm for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, was established in 1975 after Norworth's estate left a bequest of the licensing payments for baseball's unofficial anthem and his other hits.
.png&w=3840&q=100)
Montreal Gazette
36 minutes ago
- Montreal Gazette
Canadian Grand Prix is about ‘selling the city'
The Corner Booth Locals might be a little jaded about the return of the Canadian Grand Prix, but for the city's tourism industry, race weekend remains an economic powerhouse. With 2024's gaffe-filled edition firmly in the rear-view, there's optimism abound for this year's Formula One pit stop in Montreal. To drive home the importance of the annual event on the city's cultural and business calendar, Yves Lalumière, president and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, and Andrew Torriani, CEO and general manager of Ritz-Carlton Montreal, joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand for a special edition of The Corner Booth at the headquarters of all things razzle and dazzle for Grand Prix, the Ritz-Carlton Montreal on Sherbrooke St. W. 'The team has worked really hard since the end of the last Grand Prix,' Lalumière said. 'We feel very reassured. Tourisme Montréal has been part of the committee to oversee the situation, and I can tell Bell took this very seriously after last year's difficult Grand Prix.' One potential crisis averted is the current STM maintenance worker strike. Lalumière called the Grand Prix a 'lever' for negotiations, and here's a good example: normal bus and métro services will be provided all weekend. For the hotel business, Torriani said that with increased interest in Formula One down south in recent years, the diversity of tourists flocking to the city has grown far beyond the old Eurocentric stereotype to include more American, Asian and South American fans. It's a major boon for a country where Torriani said 'one in 10 people directly or indirectly' work in tourism. The Corner Booth is also available on The Gazette's YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts and on Spotify.
Winnipeg Free Press
41 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
How ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game' seeded a music nonprofit supporting the songwriters of tomorrow
NEW YORK (AP) — It's sung every summer in baseball stadiums around the United States. But the impact of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' goes much further than simply getting fans out of their seats for the 7th-inning stretch. More than a century after Jack Norworth penned the lyrics, a nonprofit founded with the song's royalties is celebrating 50 years of supporting young musicians — including the talent behind some of today's most popular musicals. The ASCAP Foundation, the charitable arm for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, was established in 1975 after Norworth's estate left a bequest of the licensing payments for baseball's unofficial anthem and his other hits. 'Just as all music begins with a song, the ASCAP Foundation began with a song,' said Paul Williams, the group's president and a composer-lyricist whose award-winning career includes 'Rainbow Connection.' The organization provides money, lessons and mentorship at all career stages in an industry where that support is badly needed by artists who often toil for years working other gigs while trying to get their music before the right ears. To reach its semicentennial, however, the foundation has had to identify new funding streams and reinvent programming. 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,' written in 1908, has since entered the public domain and no longer generates revenue. The foundation nowadays relies on a mix of philanthropies, corporate sponsors and general public donations. The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation is a longtime backer and storied New York law firm Paul Weiss is another sponsor. And, according to Williams, 'there's not a lot of stingy songwriters out there.' The late Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, as well as Herb Alpert, are among those with named scholarships and awards. Williams said other bequests, which are charitable gifts left through a will, have come from 'Hello, Dolly!' composer-lyricist Jerry Herman and 'Tea for Two' lyricist Irving Ceasar. 'It's really a way of making a mark on the world and extending their values forward,' fundraising coach Claire Axelrad said of bequests, which she added have consistently made up about one-tenth of charitable gifts. With dwindling arts funding and millions of children reportedly going without music education, the ASCAP Foundation is also trying to reach underserved communities. Leaders count nearly 60,000 K-12 students who participated in last year's programs. They help teach guitar to New York summer campers and bring students to free Broadway-caliber productions. Youth are learning to play the djembe, a drum originally from West Africa, through a collaboration with urban farming nonprofit Harlem Grown. Tax filings show the foundation gave away more than $325,000 in grants for scholarships, fellowships and cash awards in 2023. Award-winning songwriter Emily Bear, who co-wrote the soundtrack for Disney's 'Moana 2,' said the foundation took her 'very seriously' when she was a five-year-old prodigy receiving its young composer award. 'That kind of validation at that kind of age means so much when you're just a little girl with very big dreams and you're in a room full of people that you idolize,' she said. Composer Stephen Schwartz, who was honored this week with the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award during a June 10 fundraiser at Tony winner Adam Guettel's Manhattan home, said the nonprofit is filling gaps as the government 'supports the arts less and less.' This April also marked the third year that Schwartz has hosted the foundation's two-day Musical Theatre Fest in Los Angeles. The location allows participants to get feedback from prominent guests and connect with Hollywood studios — one way the foundation is trying to stay relevant by serving the renewed interest in musicals for television and film screens. It's emblematic of the mentorship younger composers say Schwartz — a Broadway icon whose hits include 'Godspell,' 'Pippin' and 'Wicked' — has offered to emerging artists over the years. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the songwriting duo behind 'Dear Evan Hansen,' credited the ASCAP Foundation for 'cementing' their connection with Schwartz. Pasek said such close proximity to a hero, who then became a 'living, breathing person who gives you advice,' made the profession 'more plausible.' 'Typically, you're working on projects on a wing and a prayer and hoping that someday it reaches the stage,' Paul said. 'So, an organization like the ASCAP Foundation breathing life into not just your work, but your pocketbooks, is a huge, huge support.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Schwartz said it was 'scary and bewildering' when he first started out without any connections. He sees an important role for himself as someone who can 'ease the way a bit' to help newcomers' 'talents flourish earlier and more completely.' There's also another motivation. 'It's slightly selfish because I get to see good work and enjoy it,' Schwartz added. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
