Miami Bar Crawls is the largest and most well-attended bar crawl in south Florida. Hospitality entrepreneurs Juan Marcos Rancano & Antar Sosa began the crawls when they noticed the over-packed state of the Grove and Lincoln Road during Halloween, compared with the sparse turnout in the Brickell district. The turning point happened when they organized a massive Brickell-based bar crawl on Halloween of 2014, which had an outsize response thanks to the success of his earlier events. “We sold 800 tickets on our first bar crawl in Brickell,” says Rancano. “That’s when people started coming to Brickell. We did a New Year’s Eve Bar Crawl after Halloween, and the rest is history.”
Miami Bar Crawls thematic events were created in the spirit of welcoming college students, professionals, and anyone interested in Miami’s vibrant and diverse bar scene. Attendees are known for taking the crawl themes seriously, arriving in creative and effortful costumes. A full array of characters and motifs are inevitably on display at the Harry Potter Bar Crawl, while millennials bring on nostalgic grunge at their 90s themed Bar Crawl. The themes add a special camaraderie and visual splendor to the crawls, helping revelers move in sync while adding yet another element of color and surprise to the world-famous Miami nightlife.
Baru, LatinBar, RedBar, American Social, and Blue Martini are some of the beloved venues that routinely participate in the crawls. “We select well-known local bars after ascertaining their willingness to work with us and also with a view towards where large groups can have the most fun,” Rancano explains. “These hotspots don’t require dress codes and they’re all within walking distance”. The tickets include 5 bar entries and 5 themed drink specials at all venues. They’re sold through Eventbrite and range from $15 to $45 depending on the popularity of the event.
The biggest Miami Bar Crawls success story to date was the 5th Annual Monster Bar Crawl. It was a 2-day event that took place on October 26th and October 31st, where 2,000 people attended on day 1 and 1,500 people attended on day 2. The turnout was a record high for Rancano and his team, greatly raising the benchmark for urban Halloween revelry.
Juan Marcos and Antar were amongst the first to perceive Brickell’s potential for bar-hopping and set his sights on turning that vision into a reality. Today, Miami Bar Crawls has become one of the most entertaining night plans in Miami, regularly drawing anywhere from 500 to 2,000 attendees, depending on the event’s popularity. It’s a fun, unconventional way to meet new people, enjoy a few drinks and familiarize oneself with the renowned Miami bar-scape.