Another incredible Miami Music Week has concluded, and we had a blast exploring two of the city’s iconic venues: Club Space and Factory Town.
A weeklong whirlwind of pool parties, secret sets, and stage takeovers for Miami Music Week has come to a wrap. From Ultra Music Festival’s towering production to pop-up dance floors tucked into laundromats, this year’s programming left no corner of the city untouched. But for many house and techno lovers, the week always circles back to two of Miami’s most beloved venues: Club Space and Factory Town.
The sites stand as Miami’s pillars for hosting the dance music’s most sought-after talent and stars in the making. Though they serve overlapping crowds, the two powerhouses exist in different worlds. Club Space is perched in the heart of downtown, a clubbing mecca boasting marathon sets every weekend, and Factory Town is centered in Hialeah’s industrial district, built for large-scale, open-air productions throughout the year.
Despite the city’s signature mix of heat and scattered rain, nothing slowed the energy of Miami Music Week this year. Venues made adjustments, and crowds showed up regardless—sometimes drenched but always dancing. As a frequenter at Club Space and Factory Town, I made exceptions this year to ignore the uncontrollable, appreciate the venues, and enjoy the spectacles around me. They did not disappoint.
Since 2000, Club Space has achieved near-mythical status among dance music lovers, and all three spaces have become gems in Miami.
Floyd, the intimate, velvet-draped lounge next door, is home for off-kilter selectors and vinyl sessions. The Ground, underneath the terrace, leans darker, techno and bass-heavy, with an open floor. Club Space’s colorful interior offers a VIP experience that fits into the action, with elevated tables surrounding the terrace and easy access to the dancefloor.
The much newer Factory Town is all about scale and spectacle.
With five stages spanning open-air setups, gritty warehouses, food trucks, and immersive installations, it’s a choose-your-own experience with plenty of entertainment. From tribal house and rolling techno to drum and bass and Latin-rooted grooves, a wide range of subgenres co-exist within its industrial, art-clad walls. Its VIP sections perch way up high next to the stages and offer elevated views, shaded lounges, and quicker access to bars, with layouts that ensure a fluid, immersive experience.
What makes these two venues so complementary is how they each define what makes a great party. Space is a place you can wander into at nearly any hour and still catch magic, especially on the terrace. At Factory Town, you arrive with intent. It’s an all-night to early-morning destination where you stumble out when the sun is up with your shoes coated in dust.
At Club Space, you can always expect marathon sets featuring tech, minimal, melodic, or funky house, and the venue delivered during Miami Music Week this year.
On Friday, I arrived at Floyd for Miami-native Slugg‘s Get Busy Records takeover. A swell of out-of-towners jammed into the intimate room, grooving alongside friends and local supporters. Posted up near the table by the booth, I saw the energy in this highly decorated room grow by the hour and happily extended my stay until the end of the party.
A few hours later, I was back for one of the weekend’s most anticipated events: Solid Grooves.
Not surprisingly, the line snaked down NE 11th and around the block by noon. While grabbing a quick slice at the corner before heading in, I overheard first-timers questioning if the wait would be worth it. I couldn’t help but chime in to say, “Stay. It’s worth it.”
Inside, legends Michael Bibi and Dennis Cruz delivered a groovy back-to-back set under Space’s ceiling garden. Rossi followed, keeping the vibe alive with irresistibly funky selections. People migrated between the inside bars and the floor with mimosas in hand, never still, enjoying the cooling from occasional CO2 bursts. The hesitance of those who had just entered the sweat-dripped, energized dance floor quickly changed. After a few tracks, people dove into the crowd and forgot the steam overhead—a quintessential Space moment: wild, sweaty, perfectly organized chaos.
Downstairs, another party was brewing.
The Ground, a darker, more rigid setting, is a staple known for bringing underground artists with deep, techno-heavy tunes to its wide stage. That night, internationally recognized artist and Space resident Malone’s WHYNOTUS party brought a stacked lineup featuring Amémé, Classmatic, ODK, Damelo, Tony Guerra, and more. The perfect room for innovative sounds, each artist brought distinct flavors. With flashing visuals, wall-to-wall bass, and a packed room, the night felt like an underground showcase elevated to an international scale.
The marathon continued at Club Space’s Closing Party.
As a testament to the club’s prestige, Club Space’s 36+ hour Miami Music Week Closing Party is its own beast. Bakke b2b Danyelino kicked off on Sunday night, followed by a Salomé Le Chat, Dennis Cruz b2b Paco Osuna, ANOTR b2b Marco Carola, Masters at Work, and other icons. By Monday midnight, the club was brimming with industry heads, late arrivals, and ravers not ready to call it quits.
The Odyssey, Space’s food stand and home to its famous grilled cheese, had a long line, with many refueling to get through the final stretch. Francesco Del Garda served an incredible, genre-defying set, and Maher Daniel b2b Ricardo Villalobos brought a cinematic finish fit for the club’s 25th anniversary. Light-hearted, musically deep, and full of crowd-wide grins and embraces—it was one of the most joyful and musically focused mornings I’ve ever experienced at Space.
A powerhouse across town: Factory Town’s five-stage spectacle
Meanwhile, over in Hialeah, Factory Town transformed into a sunrise sanctuary once again. As thousands made their way across the gravel roads into the industrial maze, its stages came to life with jaw-dropping production.
Before getting sucked into the stages, I stopped to sit and chat with friends at the scattered wooden picnic tables while we decided on a late dinner from the many food trucks lined against the walls. We stopped at photo ops, art installations, and vendors slinging vintage fashion and merch throughout the venue.
The five stages brought their own style and vibe, and I made sure to make a stop at each before the night was over. The ‘mainstage’ Infinity Room offers a spectacular backdrop of industrial buildings against the bare sky and grandiose production, and the massive Park Stage carries intense lights under a large, narrow, open-air space with concentrated sound. The Warehouse delivered dark, pounding techno, and Cypress End offered a palm-lined outdoor groove. The Chain Room brought covered intensity, tucked away in greenery for deep, tribal, and soulful sounds.
Built to accommodate several mass crowds, Factory Town’s stages saw lineups throughout the week that were curated by beloved brands and labels in the scene, such as Music On, Arcane, ARTCORE, HEKATE, WORSHIP, Deep Root Tribe, PIV, and Drumcode, among many others.
Sunday’s closing party featured a colorful elrow Kaos Garden takeover, turning the venue into a psychedelic playground with performances by Patrick Topping, Tini Gessler, Eats Everything, and more. At Cypress End, Chase West‘s party saw Max Dean, Beltran, Lousy Lover, and others belting out bangers to a rowdy crowd.
My final destination was at the Park Stage, where Dutch duo ANOTR celebrated their On A Trip album release. Towering yet inviting, the space offered room to dance freely beneath a canopy of strobes and lasers. A brief rain shower rolled in mid-set, yet no one budged. Soaked and smiling, the mass crowd swayed to the emotionally charged blend of house, jazz, and funk.
Whether it was your afterparty post-Ultra or your fifth day in a row, a euphoric sunrise at Factory Town was the ideal atmosphere to wrap up an unforgettable Music Week.
Along with thousands of other dust-coated boots, I walked out of the venue and far away from the chaos to snag an Uber, which was an hour-long ordeal. While inconvenient, the time spent and memories made at the venue always cloud any fatigue or impatience at the end of a night at Factory, evident by the laughs and smiling faces that pour out when it’s all over.
Club Space and Factory Town represent Miami’s past, present, and future.
During music week, Miami is full of some of the most talented artists in dance music, industry figures, and audiences from around the globe, so ticket prices go up and sell out quickly. Still, major parties are spread out as well as possible, and somehow, it almost always works out well that missing one event still leaves you with a more than exceptional alternative.
Club Space, with its intimacy and legacy, and Factory Town, with its large scale, share the same commitment to sound, community, and unforgettable moments in dance music history. Whether it’s a European festival-like vibe, a dark, sultry room with an upscale bar, a sweaty warehouse with hard-hitting techno, or funky, upbeat terrace vibes, Miami has it all.
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