The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center is scheduled to open its 2026–2027 season with a free outdoor concert in Cutler Bay on Saturday, October 17, 2026. The Wailers Featuring Julian Junior Marvin will headline the Backyard Bash, with Third World: A Tribute to Cat Coore as the special guest. The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the venue’s lawn along Black Creek, according to Miami’s Community Newspapers.
Free tickets are scheduled to become available at noon on October 8 through mosscenter.org, according to the event listing on Bandsintown. Every attendee will need a ticket, with a limit of four per person, per Miami’s Community Newspapers. The lawn has no provided seating, so guests should bring chairs or blankets. Outside food and drinks will not be allowed; food, cocktails and other concessions are expected to be available for purchase.
A large outdoor space for a free season opener
The concert’s setting is designed for community-scale outdoor programming. The Moss Center describes its Backyard Concert Lawn as a gently sloped space along the Black Creek Canal that can accommodate more than 700 people for concerts and festivals, according to the venue’s facilities page.
The October event also has a documented local precedent. Miami’s Community Newspapers reported that a Backyard Bash held on October 21, 2023, served as the official kickoff of the Moss Center’s 2023–2024 season on the same lawn, with a Junkanoo band and carnival dancers opening the program. That event establishes a recurring format for using the outdoor space as a season opener, but one prior example does not by itself show a longer-term attendance or programming trend.
The Moss Center within Miami-Dade’s cultural network
The Backyard Bash is part of a venue operated within Miami-Dade County’s public cultural infrastructure. The county’s FY 2025–26 budget says the Department of Cultural Affairs manages, programs and operates the Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay. The same budget includes continued funding for infrastructure improvements at the center and for the design and construction of a free-standing café, according to the county budget document.
The facility itself is newer than the cultural programs it supports: the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs says the center held its grand opening in Cutler Bay in 2011. The 2026 concert therefore marks a season-opening event at an established county-managed venue, rather than the opening of the facility.
What attendees should know
The event is being presented as family-friendly and suitable for all ages. Guests should plan for an outdoor, lawn-based experience, bring their own seating and account for the venue’s restrictions on outside food and drinks. Accessibility accommodations can be requested through the Moss Center; Miami’s Community Newspapers lists Stephanie Aponte at 786-573-5314 and asks that requests be made at least five days before an event. TTY users may call the Florida Relay Service at 711.
The Wailers’ appearance will be led by Julian Junior Marvin, who joined Bob Marley & the Wailers in 1977 and performed with the group before Marley’s death in 1981, according to Miami’s Community Newspapers. Third World’s billed tribute to late co-founder and guitarist Cat Coore adds a second connection to Jamaica’s long-running reggae tradition, but the broader significance of the evening is its use of a free outdoor program to connect the Moss Center’s next season with the surrounding Cutler Bay community.
