Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade

Arguably the most visible figure in the Civil Rights movement, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is honored across the United States annually on the third Monday in January with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Monday, January 19, 2026, Miami commemorate this federal holiday with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade & Festivities in Liberty City. The 2026 theme is "Mentoring the Dream!"

On this special day, Miami politicians, police, fire and rescue departments, parks and recreation, community leaders, state representatives, media outlets, business owners, entertainers, labor groups, historians, volunteers and corporations will all come together to honor the Civil Rights hero.

Miami’s Parade & Celebration

The festivities in Miami will begin with the 49th annual parade in Liberty City on January 19 at 11 a.m., starting at NW 7th Avenue and marching along NW 54th Street to NW 32nd Avenue. This two-and-a-half-hour parade route traces the steps that Dr. King traveled during his frequent visits to Miami.

Paradegoers can expect to see high school marching bands, student athletes, dance teams, drill teams and cheerleaders on foot, as well as floats, cars, motorcycles, horses and fire trucks bearing local politicians, union leaders, veterans groups, church leaders and activists. Carnival dancers will also take to the streets for dance and musical performances. This year’s parade will feature two esteemed grand marshals: Miami-Dade Commissioner Christine King, representing District 5, and Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the State Attorney for Miami-Dade County.

Miami’s celebration is one of the country’s oldest and largest, routinely drawing crowds of more than 500,000 people. The parade will be taped and aired as an hour-long special on WLRN-PBS.

Family Festival at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park

The parade concludes near Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park, where a daylong Family Festival will take place from noon to 5 p.m. with live music, dance, cultural programming and theatrical performances. The family-friendly celebration is designed to honor, promote, unify and preserve Miami’s vibrant local African and Caribbean heritage and cultivate racial pride. All are welcome to join in the celebrations.

You’ll find a crafts marketplace with vendors selling clothing, books, jewelry, tropical plants, herbs, spices, arts, crafts and more.

At the WEDR 99 Jamz Mainstage, international recording artists and top DJs will perform favorites from R&B, soul, jazz, reggae, rap, salsa, merengue, hip-hop and other genres, while the Cultural Stage will host theatrical performances and art exhibitions.

The Children’s Village is where you’ll find educational and interactive games, sports, physical challenges and arts projects on the legacy of Dr. King.

The Food Corner will have a wide variety of local restaurants, food trucks and grocers dishing up everything from soul food to creole, African falafel, Brazilian espetinhos, Jamaican patties, Haitian griot, Bahamian conch fritters, Southern barbecue, Trinidadian doubles and much more.

The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As chief leader of the movement to end racial discrimination in state and federal laws in the 1950s and 1960s, Dr. King organized several marches and peaceful protests. In 1963, he organized the famous March on Washington, where he delivered his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech. A year later, on October 14, 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. On April 4, 1968, he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 39.

Posthumously, Dr. King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was erected in Washington, D.C. in 2011 with a sculpture and inscription that reads, “Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” The quote is from his “I Have A Dream” speech.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an important time to reflect on the journey our nation has taken toward freedom and equality and to look at the work that still lies ahead. As Dr. King once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” On this day, in Miami and across the nation, we honor his dream and strive to achieve it.

By: Shayne Benowitz | October 30, 2025