To commemorate the 81st anniversary of Virginia Key Beach, Miami’s only Black beach during segregation, the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust is throwing a birthday bash at the historic landmark.
Wade in Our Waters, one of the biggest community gatherings in the beach’s history, is set for 2-7 p.m., on Sunday, August 30, at 4020 Virginia Beach Drive.
The event, in coordination with the City of Miami and Poetry Potluck Cuzzins, features live performances, active learning spaces and delicious food and drinks.
Virginia Key Beach was founded in 1945 during segregation following a peaceful protest by Black community leaders including Athalie Range, the first Black woman to serve on the Miami City Commission.
Blacks were prohibited from swimming at white beaches during the Jim Crow era and pressed long and hard for their own beach.
Beyond being a cherished site for family gatherings, baptisms and music festivals, Virginia Key Beach also served as a training and recreation base for Black servicemen stationed in South Florida during World War II.
At a time when Black soldiers were risking their lives abroad but denied basic rights at home, Virginia Key offered a rare refuge, a place of dignity, rest and resistance.
The beach played a vital role in community organizing and civil rights activism, hosting rallies and building collective power in South Florida’s Black communities. Today, it remains sacred ground, where waves still carry the memory of joy, struggle and a people’s refusal to be erased, making it an ideal historic space to gather.
For ticket information, email RSVP@ThePoetryPotluck, or call (305) 960-4600.