Calle Ocho – el Festival de la Calle Ocho as it is also known – was started in the late 70’s as a neighborhood festivity and quickly grew to its present size estimate of over 1 million people.

Alternatively billed as the “largest street party in the U.S.” and “the largest Hispanic Festival in the U.S.” Calle Ocho, put together by a consortium that is leadered by the Kiwanis Club of Little Havanna, different citizen’s groups and most major media, Calle Ocho runs on SW 8 Street between 27th and 8th Avenue.

It is a fun mix of culture – all major media and several major advertisers have stages with continuous entertainment; food, business  – hundreds of advertisers have booths sampling their products and, especially, people, who come to party, eat, dance and enjoy the great Miami scenery.

I have been photographing Calle Ocho for years and this year was, without a doubt, one of the best. The crowd was heavy but friendly and laid back. The great Miami temperature we had  – it was a crisp day until 2:00 pm by which time it was a bit hot – probably had a lot to do with the great behavior.

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Marcelo Salup‘s 30-plus-year career in advertising covers a wide range of everything. A wide range of roles – he began his career on the creative side, won two Addies, changed to media, included strategic planning and consumer insight and has been an agency owner several times. A wide range of venues: Spain, Latin America, international and the U.S. A wide range of clients that range from automotive to banking to electronics to fast food to soft drinks and much more. But can be summed up in four words “Only Performance is Real.” His website can be found at www.marcelosalup.com.