Traffic, tickets and more: What to know about the Republican Miami debate, Trump rally

Miami-Dade County will be the center of Republican politics on Wednesday, with the third Republican debate of the 2024 presidential election season and a rally put on by former President Donald Trump happening within an hour of each other on opposite sides of the county.

The debate will be held near downtown Miami. Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has not appeared at any of the Republican debates thus far and once again will be missing from the debate stage. This time, he’s decided to host a rally in Hialeah.

Here’s a rundown on how and whether you can get tickets, what to know about the events and what to avoid on the roads.

What’s Happening?

The Republican debate will be held Wednesday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Knight Concert Hall in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. An estimated 1,700 guests will attend, according to Miami police.

Across town, Trump will take the stage at his rally at 7 p.m. in Hialeah at the Ted Hendricks Stadium at Henry Milander Park, 4700 Palm Ave. For the event, parking and lines open at 8 a.m, doors to the venue open at 2 p.m. and guest speakers will deliver remarks starting at 5 p.m.

Traffic

Be on the lookout for road closures throughout the day and spikes in traffic around the time of the debate.

In Miami: According to the Miami Police Department, most closures around the Arsht Center will run from 1 p.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Thursday, and will include the exit ramp from the westbound lanes of the MacArthur Causeway to Biscayne Boulevard and the performing arts center. Additionally, Biscayne Boulevard will be closed to traffic from Northeast 11th Street to Northeast 15th Street, and North Bayshore Drive will be closed between Northeast 13th Street and Northeast 15th Street.

Drivers will encounter detours.

A free speech zone will be located at the east side of North Bayshore Drive and Northeast 14th Street. And over the weekend, the city closed one westbound lane of Northeast 13th Street between North Bayshore Drive and Biscayne Boulevard to help with event setup. That lane will remain closed through Wednesday.

The Hialeah and Miami-Dade Police departments said they will release information about potential road closures on Monday.

Who’s at the debate?

The Republican National Committee, which is hosting the debate, has yet to officially announce which candidates have qualified. But candidates that have said they will be attending the debate include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Can I go?

To get tickets for Trump’s rally in Hialeah, you can register here.

For the debate, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee said that tickets are distributed directly from the campaigns and debate partners. Tickets are not made available to the general public.

How can I watch the debate?

The debate will air on NBC and will be streamed on NBCNews.com and Peacock. It will also stream with translations on NoticiasTelemundo.com, Noticias Telemundo’s X, Facebook and YouTube accounts and the Noticias Telemundo mobile app, and air live with translations in Spanish on cable channel Universo.

The debate will also be available on Sky News services and will be available in audio through TuneIn. The debate will re-air on Telemundo at 12 a.m. ET and will be available on demand on Peacock.

The RNC also selected as debate partners Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as RNC streaming partner Rumble to live stream the debate.

NBC will also be hosting a pre-debate special at 7 p.m. on the streaming service NBC News NOW and a post-debate analysis from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on NBC and NBC News NOW.

How can I watch the Trump rally?

A spokesperson from Trump’s team said the rally will be streamed on his Truth Social page, the campaign’s social media platforms like @TeamTrump on X, Facebook, Rumble, and outlets like Right Side Broadcasting Network and Newsmax.

This article has been updated to correct information regarding closures affecting the MacArthur Causeway and I-395.