Calle Ocho street festival is back this weekend. Meet your Carnaval Queen

Before being named the queen of the 2023 Calle Ocho street festival in Miami, Aymée Nuviola was the queen of San Leopoldo, a neighborhood near Prado and the Malecón in Havana. When she was a music student, her neighbors would stop in front of her house to listen to her play the piano and even make requests.

“We brought the music to the neighborhood,” says Nuviola, who comes from a very musical family.

Her mother was a piano teacher and her father was an amateur pianist. They met and fell in love at Cuban singer (and Jon Secada’s aunt) Moraima Secada’s house. As a tribute to her parents’ romance and those Havana nights of filin and descarga, Nuviola recorded her most recent album, “Havana Nocturne,” a collaboration with jazz pianist Kemuel Roig.

This Sunday, when the rumba explodes on Calle Ocho, the public will surely request some of Nuviola’s crowd favorites and some of the Celia Cruz hits that she sings. Nuviola plans to perform a medley of songs from the Guarachera de Cuba such as “Bemba Colorá,” “Burundanga” and “La vida es un carnaval.” If anyone can fill the colorful shoes worn by Celia Cruz, it is Nuviola, who played Cruz in the Telemundo series that was broadcast in more than 40 countries.

“Being the queen of Calle Ocho means a lot to me. I have the keys to the city of Miami, and I don’t have the keys to Havana,” says Nuviola. Her music is in the archives of the Library of Congress in the United States, where she recorded a Grammy Award-winning collaboration live with another great Cuban musician, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

Nuviola, who performs on the Telemundo stage at Southwest 22nd Avenue, will also perform her hit with Spanish singer Melendi, “Pan para Yolanda,” which introduced her to pop audiences.

Melendi, whose grandfather was Cuban, created a heartfelt song about Cuba with Nuviola. With almost no fanfare, the song exploded via WhatsApp, and in a short time the official video had more than a million views.

Being the Carnaval Queen is a big job, says Alex Pérez, president of festival organizer the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana. Even the amount of food that the vendors sell depends on who is chosen king or queen for one of the biggest street festivals in the country.

Also set to perform are Osmani García, Lenier, Jacob Forever and El Yonki, who will be at the Telemundo stage. On the Univision stage, on 27th Avenue, El Micha, El Chacal and Jacob Forever will perform.

Central American folkloric rhythms and dances will be represented on the 24th Avenue stage. Honduras arrives with its dances of the Garífuna, Iván Salazar will perform music from Nicaragua and singer Gisela Castillo will be on stage for El Salvador.

There will also be a stage dedicated to Miami music. If you grew up listening to Power 96, head for the Miami Stage. DJ Magic Mike awaits you there.

“We wanted the festival to be held in its original form this year. There is not a block where there is not a stage,” says Pérez.

This year the Kiwanis are launching a new festival that will take Carnaval to Miami Beach for Art on the Drive, taking place March 17-19 on Ocean Drive.

The party might even spread to Hialeah next year, promised Pérez.

Calle Ocho Carnival

When: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. March 12

Where: Southwest Eighth Street, between 12th and 27th avenues.

Info: carnavalmiami.com/events/

Cost: Free