{"id":100604,"date":"2025-12-31T00:07:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100604\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T00:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:07:09","slug":"miami-band-afrobeta-plays-matchmaker-at-love-is-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100604\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Band Afrobeta Plays Matchmaker at Love is Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Photo
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen longtime friends Bakeman and Afrobeta\u2019s Cuci Amador, put their heads together, \u201cLove is Magic\u201d was born.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Photo by Elisabeth Campbell<\/p>\n

We can probably all agree that love is a game \u2014 just usually not literally. In a unique collaboration between We Met in Miami<\/a>, a nonprofit event series aimed at fostering love, friendship, and connection, and world-renowned electro funk duo Afrobeta<\/a>, real Miami singles competed for a free date live onstage at the Doral Yard on December 29, 2025. Inspired by the 1960s television show\u00a0The Dating Game,\u00a0this lighthearted competition, known as \u201cLove is Magic,\u201d offered contestants a chance to win a weekend rendezvous to various locations, including the Frost Museum of Science<\/a> and Vizcaya Museum & Gardens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In February 2024, Jessica Bakeman, founder of We Met in Miami, saw a need to create spaces for the Miami community to thrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PhotoMany connections were made that night. \u201cMatches\u201d\u00a0were announced over the loudspeaker.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elisabeth Campbell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lonely,\u201d said Bakeman, \u201cand I felt like the opportunities that I was looking for to make meaningful connections in person with people through shared interests just didn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiami, make your New Year\u2019s Resolution Count!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re $15,000 away from our End-of-Year campaign goal, with just a couple of days left! We\u2019re ready to deliver \u2014 but we need the resources to do it right. If Miami New Times matters to you, please contribute today to help us expand our current events coverage when it\u2019s needed most.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Out of this need, Bakeman created We Met in Miami, a system that allows attendees to follow others and indicate their openness to making new connections. Adults 21+ wear wristbands at each event, and are encouraged to wear more than one: green for people looking for love, blue for those seeking friendship, and rainbow for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PhotoThe event was inspired by the 1960s television show\u00a0The Dating Game. <\/p>\n

Photo by Elisabeth Campbell.<\/p>\n

When longtime friends Bakeman and Afrobeta\u2019<\/a>s Cuci Amador, put their heads together, \u201cLove is Magic\u201d was born. The game show, named after a 2011 release by Afrobeta from their album\u00a0Under the Streets,\u00a0also featured a live performance by the duo to end the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always thinking of different ways to bring the music and the artistry to show another facet of what we do,\u201d said Amador. \u201cWe can have fun in all these different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many connections were made that night. \u201cMatches\u201d\u00a0were announced over the loudspeaker. Determined by similar characteristics and interests, attendees looking for connections were given the opportunity to put themselves out there and meet someone new.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PhotoAfrobeta performing during Love is Magic. <\/p>\n

Photo by Elisabeth Campbell<\/p>\n

One lucky winner, Alicia Del Aguilar, just came for the experience and was pleasantly surprised to encounter a dating game show. She and her match, Chuck, became fast friends over the course of the night and joked that they must have met in a past life.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone should come out!\u201d said Del Aguilar. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun.\u201d <\/p>\n

We Met In Miami organizes events on the regular, you can find upcoming meetups on their website<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When longtime friends Bakeman and Afrobeta\u2019s Cuci Amador, put their heads together, \u201cLove is Magic\u201d was born. Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[684,2311,123,125,124,4780],"class_list":["post-100604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-events","tag-local-music","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-sex-dating"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}