Ten years after it started as an impromptu block party in Haiti, the BAYO music festival is coming back to Miami's Little Haiti for a free 10th-anniversary concert on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m. The show lands at 262 NE 61st St., with tickets distributed entirely through a raffle rather than sold at a box office.
From Jacmel Streets to a Global Tour
BAYO was created in 2016 in Jacmel, Haiti, as a spontaneous street gathering, according to the WLRN report that detailed the festival's path from those first block-party-style shows to a touring production spanning 12 cities. Its U.S. debut came as a free block party in Little Haiti, and the event has since grown into what organizers describe as a global cultural movement across North America and the Caribbean. Along the way, BAYO says it has sold more than 50,000 tickets worldwide and featured more than 130 guest artists, according to the BAYO tour FAQ.
The festival is the creation of Michaël Brun, a DJ, festival founder and Grammy-winning producer of Haitian and Guyanese descent who has lived in Miami for a long time and has family and friends across the city, per the station's reporting. Brun has said BAYO aims to spread Haitian joy, and that a free concert responds to immigrant families navigating the end of Temporary Protected Status — a shift USCIS says took effect in a notice on the termination of Haiti's TPS designation. Brun has also said the concert allows people to be themselves and celebrate, the station's report notes.
Free Tickets, Funded by a Video Game Giant
Unlike past stops, the Nov. 22 show carries no ticket price at all. The BAYO tour FAQ states plainly that all tickets for the show will be free and distributed via a raffle at bayotour.com, courtesy of Rockstar Games, and that no other tickets will be sold. Every raffle winner receives two tickets, per the same FAQ.
Rockstar Games, known for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, partnered with BAYO to sponsor the concert, according to Axios, which reported that tickets will be available through a raffle with more than half earmarked for Florida residents and Haitian community members. Axios also reported that Rockstar is funding the free Little Haiti block party in partnership with BAYO and Brun, whom the outlet described as a Haitian cultural ambassador and artist.
A Lineup Kept Secret, By Tradition
BAYO's lineup is traditionally kept a surprise, a nod to those first block-party-style shows in Haiti, according to the tour FAQ. The festival's music spans genres including rara, kompa and raboday, per the station's reporting, and past editions have featured guest artists including Wyclef Jean, J Balvin, Rutshelle Guillaume, Maxwell and Naïka, as well as Fatima Altieri and Machel Montano.
Brun is expected to be joined onstage by more than 20 surprise guest artists at the Little Haiti show, according to the station's report. A portion of BAYO ticket sales has historically supported community development, education and music initiatives in Haiti, along with a foundation established in honor of Brun's late mother, according to The Haitian Times. Separately, NPR has reported that organizers collect one dollar from every ticket sold to donate to the Artist Institute and Friends of Matènwa.
How Miami's BAYO Shows Have Grown
Miami has hosted BAYO before. In 2019, an all-Haitian lineup including Anie Alerte, Gardy Girault and J. Perry sold out a show at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, according to Miami New Times. The festival returned to the city again in October 2023 after a four-year hiatus, with a sold-out stop at the Little Haiti Cultural Center where a block party drew at least 500 attendees over about five hours, The Haitian Times reported.
BAYO's footprint has also stretched well beyond South Florida. The 2024 edition consolidated into a single night at Brooklyn's Prospect Park on June 15, drawing a crowd of about 8,000, per NPR. To mark its 10th anniversary earlier this year, BAYO staged a three-night residency at Brooklyn Paramount from June 25 to 27, where Brun welcomed more than 140 guest artists and celebrities across the three nights, according to The Haitian Times.
