Q&A: 12 Years of Favela Beach – A Look Back at Miami’s Longest Running Club Party

Photography by Seth Browarnik, Ryan Troy on February 18th, 2019 in Celebrity, Editorials, Nightlife

Favela Beach at WALL on February 14, 2012

Miami Beach, FL – February 19, 2019 – It’s no stranger that Miami likes to party… World Red Eye is honored in capturing Miami’s longest running club party, Favela Beach. Favela Beach started in 2006 with the fundamentals of bringing everyone together on Tuesday nights. In the early 2000’s, South Beach’s nightlife was booming, and on a Tuesday night the local nightlife industry, celebrities, and party goers knew Favela Beach the hottest party to attend. The iconic Tuesday night party originally started off at Mokai with the name “Favela Chic”, then moved to the infamous Coco de Ville, and finally to it’s current home WALL Lounge at the W South Beach.

Before other Miami Beach night clubs such as LIV, Story, and Mr. Jones there was Favela Beach. Favela Beach is known as the party without any prejudice or nightlife politics involved, a place where it didn’t matter if you were a hip hop type of guy or a deep house type of girl. Throughout the past 12 years, the party has stood the test of times and set itself a pillar in the landscape of nightlife.

Today, Favela Beach’s 12 year anniversary provides relief in knowing that Miami can party and is now the longest lasting club party in Miami. World Red Eye is reflecting on the best memories of Favela Beach known to date all the way from 2010 to present. WRE caught up with nightlife nightlife extraordinaire Paulo Cardoso, to get the real story behind the party and uncover the biggest moments in Favela Beach history. Read the full Q&A below! (Or if you don’t want to read and skip straight to the party head to tonights 12th year anniversary at WALL Lounge).

Justin Bieber at Favela Beach at WALL on December 8, 2015

WRE: Where did Favela Beach originate? How did you come up with the concept?

PC: In 2006 I went to Rio de Janeiro, My buddy there brought me to a Baile Funk party inside the favelas. What I didn’t expect was that it was the hottest party in Rio, with everyone wanting to get in from the rich to poor, black or white. Even though the party was in the middle of the slums, it was mostly people from the city mixed with the locals from the favela. The party had an incredible energy with everyone in the room dancing without prejudices and complete disregard for formality. The Baile Funk movement was getting big at the time, I instantly wanted to bring that same energy to Miami. I was partners with Tatanka and Roy Alpert at the time and started Favela Chic at Mokai later that year. It was one of the first mixed format nights in Miami, before that every club played either hiphop, or House music. We brought DJ Ross One from New York to help us develop a music format that blended Hip Hop, House, Dance, Indy, Alternative, and Baile Funk. Ross had an incredible knowledge of Brazilian music and was able to blend all those genres seamlessly and keep the energy alive throughout the night. Ross’s original mixtape for Favela Chic is still one of the best mix format CD’s.

WRE: How did you come up with the name Favela Beach?

PC: Originally the party was named Favela Chic, but there was a cafe in Paris with the same name so we changed it to Favela Beach in 2010 when we moved the party from Coco de Ville to WALL.

Sebastian Puga, Tatanka, Nicola Siervo, Zack Bush, Angel Febres, & Keith Paciello at Don’t be Cruel at WALL on October 19, 2010

Roy Alpert, Tatanka, & Paulo Cardoso on August 3, 2010

Favela Beach is now the longest lasting club party in Miami. The key to it has always been to bring an authentic high energy dance party.

Paulo Cardoso

Lincoln O’Barry, Navin Chatani, Seth Browarnik, & David Simkins at Favela Beach at WALL on September 20, 2011

Favela Beach 5 Year Anniversary on October 25, 2011

WRE: Favela Beach is one of the longest parties in Miami Nightlife history. How do you keep the momentum going week to week? How do you keep the party exciting and new?

PC: It’s now the longest lasting club party. The key to it has always been to bring an authentic high energy dance party. We constantly bring special guests, different theme parties every month, and there’s always surprises to keep people excited. The other half is constantly curating a good team that supports and drives the brand every week.

WRE: You started the iconic Tuesday night party at Mokai. When did you move the party to WALL?

PC: Originally, I was doing Tuesday dinners at the Astor Hotel and bringing everyone to Mansion for a party we used to call “Get Fresh”. That was the beginning of a weekly Tuesday party. In 2006 when Mokai opened we launched Favela Chic and it was the biggest hit. In 2008, we moved the party to Coco de Ville, then in 2010 we moved the party to WALL.

Favela Beach at WALL on September 11, 2012

Favela Chic 2006 at Mokai

Marlon Wayans & Talib Kweli at “Live at Knight” Tomorrow at WALL on October 18, 2012

Reid Waters, Ruen, Tatanka, & DJ Ross One at Favela Beach at WALL on October 23, 2012

Favela Chic at 1 Oak Pop-Up 2008

DJ Ruckus, DJ Sinatra, & DJ Rascal at Favela Beach at WALL on January 3, 2012

Travis McCoy & Jeremy Shockey at Favela Beach’s Fat Tuesday at WALL on February 7, 2012

WRE: What are the biggest celebrities you’ve had at Favela Beach?

PC: There’s been so many over the years it’s hard to say. Justin Bieber did a cameo one night and put on an impromptu show that was pretty awesome. Flo-Rida, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, and Paris Hilton have all been regulars at some time or another. Tons of professional athletes from Christiano Ronaldo, Beckham, Neymar, Usain Bolt, Dwane Wade, Phelps, Lance Armstrong, etc. If they’re in Miami and looking to go out on a Tuesday, most likely they’re coming to Favela Beach.

WRE: What are the biggest moments you remember?

PC: Hard to narrow that down after so many good nights. Our New York pop-pup parties during Fashion Week have all been pretty epic. We used to do a yearly party called Cheesy-N-Sleezy, it was a 90’s Spring Break theme party that included a wet t-shirt contest. The last one we did was hosted by Kirill (@slutwhisperer) and Simon Rex. Let’s just say things got so rowdy that we’ve had to stop doing that party ever since.