MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Miami’s art world does not stop for Zika-carrying mosquitoes. Poolside parties, outdoor red carpets and blocks of art fairs are continuing this week for Art Basel Miami Beach.
Art Basel officially begins Thursday, but associated events started earlier in the week – unaffected also by noisy celebrations across town in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood over the death of Fidel Castro.
The editor of Ocean Drive magazine, Jared Shapiro, says that parties have been attended by celebrities such Heidi Klum and Venus Williams.
Concern that the festival would be thwarted flared in July when the first cases of Zika transmission through mosquito bites on the U.S. mainland were reported in Miami’s arts district of Wynwood and later in Miami Beach. The worry has since subsided, and attendance has been brisk.