Join the Greater Miami Host Committee and the Spain-Florida Foundation 500 Years, as we get ready to celebrate Florida’s 500th anniversary Monday, December 31st at Bayside Miami.

The Spain-Florida Foundation will sponsor a historical reenactment of the arrival of Juan Ponce de Leon, the first Spanish explorer to set foot in Florida. This free event will feature, live entertainment from 6PM till midnight.

The Big Orange or “La Gran Naranja” will mark the New Year as the state’s 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s arrival to Florida recognizing 500 years of history and cultural diversity – a claim no other state can make.

The City of Miami renamed the Big Orange event to “La Gran Naranja” commemorating 2013 as the anniversary year since the Spanish brought their heritage and oranges, the most important crop to Florida.

“La Gran Naranja” is a big neon sign 35 feet in diameter. It ascends 400 feet to the top of its downtown home site, the Hotel InterContinental, in Downtown Miami.

This new year’s event annually attracts an audience of some 150,000 -250,000 local participants.

Join the celebrations at 5PM as Miami witnesses Juan Ponce de Leon’s arrival in a Spanish Galeon! At 6:00 PM in Miami and midnight in Spain there will be a live simulcast as Spain gets ready to celebrate the New Year and the 500th anniversary of ties to Florida

For more information on volunteering for the Foundation at events please contact

Rodrigo Diaz
Project Coordinator
rdiaz@spain-florida.org
Office: (786) 364 8463